Downlink (dl) positioning reference signal (prs) bandwidth part (bwp) configuration reference signal design and user equipment (ue) based positioning enhancements for new radio (nr) positioning

ABSTRACT

Systems, apparatuses, methods, and computer-readable media are provided for an access point (AP) for a wireless communication system. The AP includes processor circuitry configured to configure a bandwidth part (BWP) for downlink (DL) positioning reference signals (PRS) and a BWP for DL data transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the BWP for DL PRS provides DL PRS to the UE for a UE-based positioning operation. The processor circuitry is configured to select an action to be performed by the UE in response to receiving the configured BWP for DL PRS and the configured BWP for DL data transmission by the UE. The AP includes radio front end circuitry that is coupled to the processor circuitry and configured to transmit, to the UE, the configured BWP for DL PRS, the configured BWP for DL data transmission, and the selected action. The wireless communication is a 5G system or a 5G new radio (5G-NR) system.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/805,814, filed Feb. 14, 2019, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Various embodiments generally may relate to the field of wirelesscommunications.

BRIEF SUMMARY

This disclosure describes an access point (AP), or an apparatus thereof,for a wireless communication system. The AP includes processor circuitryconfigured to configure a bandwidth part (BWP) for downlink (DL)positioning reference signals (PRS) and a BWP for DL data transmissionto a user equipment (UE). The BWP for DL PRS may provide DL PRS to theUE for a UE-based positioning operation. The processor circuitry isconfigured to select an action to be performed by the UE in response tothe UE receiving the BWP for DL PRS and the BWP for DL datatransmission. The AP includes radio front end circuitry that is coupledto the processor circuitry. The radio front end circuitry is configuredto transmit, to the UE, the BWP for DL PRS, the BWP for DL datatransmission, and the selected action. In embodiments, the wirelesscommunication system may be a 5G system, a 5G new radio (5G-NR) system,or a 6G system. In embodiments, the BWP for DL PRS either may fully orpartially overlap with the BWP for DL data transmission.

This disclosure also describes a method performed by an access point(AP) for a wireless communication system. The method includesconfiguring a bandwidth part (BWP) for downlink (DL) positioningreference signals (PRS) and a BWP for DL data transmission to a userequipment (UE). The BWP for DL PRS may provide DL PRS to the UE for aUE-based positioning operation. The method includes selecting an actionto be performed by the UE in response to the UE receiving the BWP for DLPRS and the BWP for DL data transmission. The method includestransmitting, to the UE, the BWP for DL PRS, the BWP for DL datatransmission, and the selected action. In embodiments, the wirelesscommunication system may be a 5G system, a 5G new radio (5G-NR) system,or a 6G system. In embodiments, the BWP for DL PRS either may fully orpartially overlap with the BWP for DL data transmission.

This disclosure also a user equipment (UE), or an apparatus thereof, fora wireless communication system. The UE includes radio front endcircuitry that is coupled to processor circuitry. The radio front endcircuitry is configured to receive a bandwidth part (BWP) for downlink(DL) positioning reference signals (PRS) and a BWP for DL datatransmission, and an action to be performed by the UE in response toreceiving the BWP for DL PRS and the BWP for DL data transmission. Theprocessor circuitry is configured to determine, based on the action, anadjustment of a receiver bandwidth of the radio front end circuitry toprocess the DL PRS. The processor circuitry is also configured toperform positioning measurement according to the DL PRS, and use anuplink (UL) sounding reference signal (SRS) as a reference signal for ULPRS. In embodiments, the UL SRS may support reduced occupied subcarrierdensity, an extended number of supported symbols, and/or utilization oftime or frequency domain code division multiplexing, and either comb-6or comb-12 may be used to support the reduced occupied subcarrierdensity. In embodiments, the wireless communication system may be a 5Gnew radio (5G-NR) system, a 5G system, or a 6G system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 depicts an example procedure in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 depicts another example procedure in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 3 depicts an architecture of a system of a network in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 4 depicts an architecture of a system, including a first corenetwork in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 depicts an architecture of a system, including a second corenetwork in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 6 depicts an example of infrastructure equipment in accordance withvarious embodiments/.

FIG. 7 depicts example components of a platform in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIG. 8 depicts example components of baseband circuitry and radiofrequency circuitry in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 9 depicts an illustration of various protocol functions that may beused for various protocol stacks in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates components of a core network in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments, of a system to support network functionsvirtualization (NFV).

FIG. 12 depicts a block diagram illustrating components, according tosome example embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identifythe same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposesof explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth suchas particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects ofvarious embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the variousaspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examplesthat depart from these specific details. In certain instances,descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted soas not to obscure the description of the various embodiments/aspectswith unnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, thephrase “A or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B).

Embodiments described herein include methods for new radio (NR)downlink/uplink (DL/UL) positioning reference signal (PRS) bandwidth(BW) configuration and enhanced configuration signaling to support radioaccess technology (RAT) dependent NR positioning and relatedmeasurements. In particular, embodiments/aspects described herein aredirected to enhancements needed to support UE-based positioning, arelationship of downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) PRS signals with UEspecific DL/UL bandwidth parts, and handling of DL or UL transmissionsoverlapped with DL or UL PRS signals. In addition, embodiments/aspectsdescribed herein are directed to potential enhancements for UL soundingreference signal (SRS) for improvement of link budget and multiplexingcapability, which can improve performance of UL-related positioningtechniques for NR, such as UL-only NR positioning (uplink timedifference of arrival (UTDOA) based positioning) and DL+UL positioning(round trip time (RTT) based positioning). All described mechanismsaimed to improve the positioning performance in the NR system.

This disclosure describes a configuration of NR DL/UL PRS resources,maintaining of UE-based positioning by additional configurationinformation as a time synchronization error and mechanisms for thehandling of a collision between DL PRS transmission and any other DLsignal transmission.

UL SRS was selected as a primary candidate for UL PRS. Initially, it wasdesigned for UL channel sounding and beam management. According to apreliminary system-level analysis, the UL SRS link budget does not fitminimum requirements for Macro scenarios with large inter-sidedistances. The main reason is a limited link budget. The second issuethat can be identified for the current UL SRS design is a limited numberof simultaneously scheduled users for SRS transmission. Embodimentdescribed herein provide enhancements for UL SRS, which are capable ofsolving the above-described problems.

Embodiments described herein provide design options for configuration ofPRS with respect to bandwidth part (BWP) configuration for DL and ULtransmission, provide signaling for enhancements of UE-based positioningoperation, provide additional enhancements for SRS design in NRpositioning, and disclose mechanisms for collision handling of collidedDL PRS signal and any other DL transmission inside of dedicated DL PRSresources.

Several advantages are attributable to the embodiments described herein.These advantages include, but are not limited to, one or more of thefollowing:

-   -   provide a mechanism for configuration of BWP for PRS        transmission in NR communication systems;    -   improve performance of UE-based positioning solutions in NR        communication systems;    -   improve UL SRS capability in order to improve the UL-based        positioning performance in NR communication systems; and    -   enable a mechanism for handling of the collision between DL PRS        signal and any other DL transmission inside of dedicated DL PRS        resources.

PRS BWP Configuration DL PRS BWP Configuration

In an NR system, a UE is configured with DL bandwidth parts (BWPs) thatthe UE monitors for DL communication. BWPs are introduced to improve UEpower-saving characteristics since the UE does not need to process thewhole system bandwidth. The BWP size can be adapted to handleinstantaneous traffic conditions. From a positioning perspective, it isdesirable to transmit and process signals allocated within a wholesystem carrier bandwidth. This assumption is in conflict with the BWPconfiguration concept, which aims to reduce the amount of spectrum UEneeds to monitor. In order to address this problem, different optionsfor NR DL PRS BW configuration can be applied:

Option 1: NR DL PRS resources can be configured independently of UEspecific NR DL BWP(s) configuration. By configuration signaling, NR DLPRS resources can be allocated within, allocated outside, or made tooverlap with any of the pre-configured DL BWP(s).

-   -   Option 1a: A UE is expected to process DL PRS transmission        according to the BW of the active BWP.    -   Option 1b: UE is expected to process DL PRS according to the        configured DL PRS transmission BW.

Option 2: A dedicated DL BWP can be introduced/defined specifically toalign with NR DL PRS transmission bandwidth, without imposing anyconstraints on NR DL PRS allocation in time/frequency resources. NR DLPRS configuration is applied in a cell specific and UE specific manner.In this case, DL PRS transmission BW is confined within dedicated DL BWPintroduced for positioning support.

Option 3: One of the DL BWPs configured by a next-generation NodeB (gNB)is assumed to be aligned with NR DL PRS configuration parameters. Inthis case, it is the gNB's responsibility to configure at least one ofthe DL BWPs, which are supposed to be used for data communication to bealigned in terms of DL PRS transmission bandwidth.

Option 4: A UE interested in DL PRS processing is expected to openreceiver (RX) BW according to the max (DL PRS BW, BW of active DL PRSBWP).

Option 1: Independent NR DL PRS and NR DL BWP Configuration

Considering that NR DL PRS can be configured independently of NR DLBWPs, the PRB level granularity can be used for NR DL PRS bandwidth.Independent NR DL PRS configuration support following configurationoptions:

-   -   For configuration of independent NR DL PRS BW, configurable PRB        level granularity, configurable numerology, and subcarrier        spacing are supported. The NR DL PRS granularity level,        numerology, and subcarrier spacing may be configured by higher        layers via NR remaining minimum system information (RMSI), NR        other system information (OSI) or dedicated radio resource        control (RRC) or LPP and NRPPa signaling.    -   The independent NR DL PRS BW may overlap with NR DL BWP or may        confine within NR DL BWP, assuming that same numerology and        subcarrier spacing that defined for current NR DL BWP are used        for transmission of NR DL PRS.

NR DL PRS BWP configuration can be configured with partial overlappingwith NR DL BWP(s), (e.g. NR DL BWPs used for data transmission). In thiscase, two different UE behaviors or actions can be expected: Behavior 1:UE processes PRS only at the intersection bandwidth of DL PRS and activeDL BWP, i.e., does not adjust it BW towards BW of PRS signal and thusUEs may process only part of PRS which overlaps with BWP. Behavior 2: UEadjusts receiver (RX) processing BW to accommodate DL PRS transmissionBW. The behavior 2 may require additional time to retune RX BW beforeand after PRS transmission. The amount of time similar to BWP switchingneeds to be provided to UE in order to support behavior 2 (see Table 1).

The gNB may indicate to UE the behavior it expects from the UE side inthis specific scenario and need to ensure that required retuning time(time gap) is allocated to UE if behavior 2 is requested from UE (i.e.,gNB should not expect UE to receive any DL transmissions on DL resourceswhere UE need to retune BW to support DL PRS reception).

Depending on UE capability, UE shall finish the BWP switching within thetime duration Y defined in Table 1.

TABLE 1 BWP switch delay NR Slot BWP switch delay Y (slots) μ length(ms) Type 1^(Note1) Type 2^(Note1) 0 1 [1]  [3] 1 0.5 [2]  [5] 2 0.25[3]  [9] 3 0.125 [6] [17] Note 1: Depends on UE capability. Note 2: Ifthe BWP switch involves changing of SCS, the BWP switch delay isdetermined by the larger one between the SCS before BWP switch and theSCS after BWP switch.

Option 2: Configuration of Dedicated NR DL BWP for NR Positioning

Dedicated DL BWP is introduced specifically for NR DL PRS transmission.In this case, NR DL PRS signals are confined within this BWP. In thatcase, higher layers via NR remaining minimum system information (RMSI),NR other system information (OSI), or dedicated radio resource control(RRC) signaling or LPP signaling protocol (LPP) can configure dedicatedDL PRS BWP.

In this option, UE may need to perform switching between BWPs used forNR DL positioning and another one used for NR DL communication. Thedelay for DL BWP switching, as shown in Table 1, is also applicable inthis case. The introduction of DL BWP for NR Positioning can simplifyspecification efforts, given that the BWP concept is one of theunderlying principles in NR technology.

Option 3: Aligned NR DL BWP Configuration

In Option 3, it is assumed that one of the DL BWPs configured to UEaligns or exceeds in terms of BW the DL PRS transmission bandwidth. Incase if one of the configured DL BWPs is aligned with NR DL PRSconfiguration parameters, it is required to identify only a BWP ID thatis planned to be used for DL PRS transmission purposes. Theindication/association of DL BWP, which is dedicated to NR DL PRStransmission, may be configured by higher layers via NR remainingminimum system information (RMSI), NR other system information (OSI) ordedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling or LPP signalingprotocol.

Option 4: NR DL PRS and NR DL BWP Configuration

If DL PRS BW exceeds BW of active DL BWP, the UE is expected to processand monitor NR DL PRS BW. If DL PRS BW is less than the BW of active DLBWP, the UE operates according to the BW of active DL BWP.

Option 5: UE Processes Multiple BWP

If UE can process multiple BWP at the same time, then it is supposed toindicate this to gNB. In this case, there is no issue to be addressed interms of DL processing of PRS and any other DL channels/signals.

UE Based Positioning Enhancements

The UE-based positioning can reduce signaling overhead on a Uu link andhas advantages in terms of UE positioning capacity and systemscalability over other studied techniques. In general, it can alsofacilitate positioning for RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE/RRC_CONNECTED UEs. Thedrawback of UE-based positioning utilizing only NR DL positioningtechniques is that timing-based techniques are sensitive to networksynchronization errors while DL AoD measurements may not provide anaccurate location. If UE-based positioning is agreed, properconsiderations should be given to improve NW-based positioningcapabilities.

In order to apply DL timing-based solutions properly, UE should beinformed on the level of network synchronization accuracy. Thissynchronization accuracy information should contain the measure ofsynchronization error between gNBs involved in the transmission of NR DLPRS and positioning operation. This error measure of synchronizationerror can be signaled in any form: e.g., max synchronizationerror/average synchronization error, standard deviation ofsynchronization error, or more abstract synchronization accuracy levelor grade/class, which is associated with certain metric characterizingrequirement on quality of inter-gNB synchronization includinguncertainty measure or any confidence intervals, etc.

The signaling of this information is required for UE based positioningin order to understand the applicability of certain positioningtechnologies such as, for example, DL-TDOA (OTDOA) for NR positioningand its potential impact on UE positioning accuracy. If no specificsignaling is provided, UE can assume that synchronization error isinversely proportional to the configured DL PRS transmission BW,possibly with some non-linear adjustment or linear scaling.

The signaling of gNB synchronization accuracy characteristic towards UEscan be done by higher layer signaling, for example, via LPP protocol,RRC signaling, or SIB signaling.

For UE-based positioning, the support for UEs inRRC_IDLE/INACTIVE/CONNECTED states is beneficial for UE autonomouslocation. As far as these UEs keep the synchronization with gNB, theyare able to obtain measurements required for positioning based ondifferent types of reference signals, such as NR SSB/PBCH, NR DL CSI-RS,NR DL PT-RS, NR DL PRS, and the network provides required information(gNB location almanac, gNB synchronization errors, etc.).

For DL positioning, UE can perform measurements based on NR SSBtransmissions as well as NR PRS transmissions. The measurement over SSBcan be used for use cases that do not require accurate positioningcapabilities, and thus simplified techniques based on existing signalingcan be reused. In particular, for NR DL positioning techniques,utilizing SSB processing, the following information can be measured andreported by UE:

-   -   Cell ID    -   SSB index and SS-RSRP    -   As enhancements, the RSTD and AoD measurements can be introduced        over SSB.    -   RSTD measurements    -   SSB AoD measurements

SRS Enhancements for UL Positioning Purposes

NR SRS is an appropriate reference signal for NR UL Positioning; it wasdesigned for UL channel sounding and beam management. SRS Resources canbe combined in SRS Resource Sets. Each SRS Resource can be configuredwith 1, 2, or 4 antenna ports, transmitted in 1, 2, or 4 consecutivesymbols at the end of a slot with a configurable signal bandwidth. NRSRS is represented by Zadoff-Chu sequences (if sequence length >36) andhas a comb structure. The NR SRS Resource Set can be configured asperiodic or on-demand (semi-persistent or aperiodic). Sequencegeneration is a function of n^(SRS) _(ID), slot, and symbol number. TheNR SRS supports group or sequence hopping as well as frequency hopping.

Following options can be a potential enhancement for SRS design in orderto improve UL PRS capability:

-   -   Extended number of supported symbols for NR UL SRS    -   Reduced occupied subcarrier density of UL SRS by applying        comb-6/comb-12 transmission configuration    -   Utilization of time and frequency CDM

Increased Number of Supported Symbols SRS

An increased number of symbols used for UL SRS transmission is capableof increasing the SRS link budget, which leads to the improvement of UL,based positioning performance. However, UE mobility can limit thecapability of coherent combining time window for SRS transmissionextended in time. Thus, the maximum number of subframes used for UL SRStransmission can be 6 or 8. It is assumed that following changes markedas red will be applied in section 6.4.1.4.1 in third generationpartnership project (3GPP) technical specification (TS) 38.211:

An SRS resource is configured by the SRS-Resource IE and consists of

-   -   N_(symb) ^(SRS)∈{1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, . . . } the higher        layer parameter resource mapping

Reduced Occupied Subcarrier Density

Reduced number of allocated subcarriers per PRB assumes utilization ofcomb-6 and comb-12 transmission configuration for UL SRS. It canincrease the link budget, and, as a result, can improve UL based NRpositioning performance. It is assumed that the ‘transmissionComb’parameter from section 6.4.1.4.1 in TS 38.211: will be updated with twonew values: n6 (comb-6) and n12 (comb-12).

Utilization of Code DOMAIN Multiplexing

Utilization of UL SRS for positioning purposes can potentially lead tomore frequent UL SRS scheduling for users involved in UL positioning orDL+UL positioning in NR, which can be a problem due to limitedmultiplexing capabilities. In order to increase the number of userassigned with the same set UL SRS without any significant performancedegradation, a CDM in time and frequency can be used for UL SRS sequencegeneration. As an additional orthogonalization approach, the specialtime and frequency domain spreading sequences can be applied to for thegeneration of the SRS sequence. The SRS sequence generation procedurecorresponds to the following formula:

r ^((p) ^(i) ⁾ _(l,k) =r ^((p) ^(i) ⁾ _(l,k) w _(f)(k)w _(t)(l)

r^((p) ^(i) ⁾ _(l,k)—SRS sequence calculated according to section6.4.1.4.2 in TS 38.211 [1],w_(f)—frequency spreading sequence; w_(t)—time spreading sequence.

Selection of a w_(f) and w_(t) for a particular node can be based on atleast subframe/slot counter, C-RNTI, a counter of UEs assigned to thesame time/frequency resource with fixed cyclic shift value.

As for example, the following expression provides the formulas forcalculation of time and frequency spreading sequences ids:

f_id=mod(X,SF _(f))

t_id=mod(floor(X/SF_(f)), SF_(t)), where

X—configuration value which depends on subframe/slot Id and specialpositioning node identifier;

SF_(f)—number of frequency-domain spreading sequences;

SF_(t)—number of time-domain spreading sequences, in general, it can bedefined as the number of symbols allocated for UL SRS transmission;

f_id—frequency spreading sequence Id;

t_id—time spreading sequence Id;

Spreading sequences can be orthogonal based on Hadamard matrices, DFTbased matrices, or pseudo orthogonal based on randomly generatedsequences.

On the Collision of DL PRS and Other DL Transmissions

Because at least dedicated resources are supported for DL PRStransmission, the sharing of NR DL PRS resources with any other DLtransmissions will degrade positioning performance and thus should beavoided if possible. However, in order to guarantee QoS for DLtransmission (e.g., URLLC services), the DL transmission on DL PRSresources may be unavoidable. If this happens, UEs should be informedabout such situations, and potential preemption of NR DL PRStransmissions by other NR DL transmissions should be indicated to UEsconducting measurements for positioning. This information may besignaled by gNBs to UEs in case of UE-based positioning or to locationserver in case of NW based positioning, and corrupted measurements thatwere done by UEs when DL PRS signal was overlapped or preempted by otherDL transmission can be identified and dropped.

The multiplexing with other NR signals such as SSB, PDCCH, PDSCH, PBCH,CSI-RS, should be avoided as much as possible. In the case ofcollisions, the described above signaling mechanism can be used toexclude corrupted measurements.

Alternatively, in order to manage multiplexing priority rules toprioritize transmission between DL PRS, SSB/PDCCH/PDSCH/PBSCH, andCSI-RS can be introduced.

In case if the network triggers any DL data transmission insideresources dedicated for DL PRS transmission, there are several ways tohandle this exception:

-   -   Network reconfigures the DL PRS parameters in order to minimize        the collision probabilities with any other DL transmissions        inside of the dedicated set of resources.    -   gNBs mute the NR DL PRS transmissions, which resources collide        with the other DL transmission.    -   Network indicates a set, or a subset of DL PRS resources, which        was collided with other DL data transmission to UEs involved        into positioning procedure, in order to inform them that the        measurement Rx procedure for these DL PRS resources can be        dropped or that the indicated measurements are not required to        be signaled to the network.    -   Network indicates a set of measurements based on DL PRS        resources, which was collided with other DL data transmission to        a location server entity in order to provide the information        that these measurements could be spoiled, and their utilization        can be limited or excluded from location calculation procedure.

Remaining Aspects of PRACH Enhancements for NR Positioning

The NR physical random access channel (PRACH) has a link budgetadvantage and can be transmitted according to DL reception timing. Thereare two PRACH structures defined: short (for FR1) and long (for FR1/FR2)sequences. The available signal BW that depends on sequence length,frequency range, and used subcarrier spacing, varies in range from 1 to4 MHz.

NR PRACH supports multiple transmission formats with differenttransmission duration. The PRACH signal can accommodate multiple symbols(up to 12 symbols for short PRACH) and even slots (up to 3.4 ms for longPRACH). PRACH signal is constructed from Zadoff-Chu sequences and hasgood cross-correlation properties. The cyclic shift is applied toincrease the amount of RACH sequences.

In terms of PRACH resource allocation, it can be configured withdifferent periodicity; however, its transmission bandwidth is limited.

The RACH preamble can be used for obtaining positioning measurements forinitial (early) coarse UE coordinates. Thus, the NR can support theservice that enables coarse location calculation for users that are usedRACH preamble transmission procedure, based on positioning measurementsobtained from received RACH preambles.

Example Procedures

In some embodiments/aspects, the electronic device(s), network(s),system(s), chip(s) or component(s), or portions or implementationsthereof, of FIGS. 3-12, or some other figure herein, may be configuredto perform one or more processes, techniques, or methods as describedherein, or portions thereof. One such process is depicted in FIG. 1. Forexample, the process may include: configuring or causing to configure aNR downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS) resource, as shownin FIG. 1 as step 102; configuring or causing to configure a NR DLbandwidth part (BWP) in response to the configuration of the NR DL PRSresource, wherein the NR PRS resource is configured independently of theNR DL BWP, as shown as step 104 in FIG. 1; allocating or causing toallocate the configured NR PRS resource with the configured NR DL BWP,as shown in FIG. 1 as step 106; and transmitting or causing to transmitthe configured NR PRS resource and the configured NR DL BWP, as shown inFIG. 1 as step 108. While only the method steps are described withreference to FIG. 1, each method step is described in detail in thisdisclosure. Accordingly, the details of each step of FIG. 1 are notrepeated here.

FIG. 2 illustrates another example procedure in accordance with someembodiments/aspects. The example procedure may be executed in a systemor apparatus as described herein with respect to FIG. 3 through 12. Inaccordance with some embodiments/aspects, at step 202, an access point(AP) for a wireless communication system may configure a bandwidth part(BWP) for downlink (DL) positioning reference signals (PRS) and a BWPfor DL data transmission to a user equipment (UE). The BWP for DL PRSmay provide DL PRS to the UE for a UE-based positioning operation, andthe BWP for DL data transmission may provide BWP information fordownlink (DL) data transmission to the UE. By way of a non-limitingexample, as described above, the BWP for DL PRS may be different fromthe BWP for DL data transmission. Alternatively, the BWP for DL PRS maybe the same as the BWP for DL data transmission. In other words, the BWPfor DL PRS may either fully or partially overlap with the BWP for DLdata transmission. Thus, the DL PRS used to perform the UE-basedpositioning operation may be within the one of the configured BWP for DLdata transmission or the configured BWP for DL PRS.

In accordance with some embodiments/aspects, at step 204, the AP mayselect an action to be performed by the UE in response to the UEreceiving the configured BWP for DL PRS and the configured BWP for DLdata transmission by the UE. As described above, by way of anon-limiting example, upon receiving the configured BWP for DL PRS andthe configured BWP for DL data transmission, the UE may process the DLPRS only at the intersection bandwidth of the DL PRS and the active DLBWP. In other words, the UE may not adjust its receiver bandwidthtowards the BW of DL PRS. Accordingly, the UE may only process a part ofthe BWP for DL PRS that overlaps with the BWP for DL data transmission.In some cases, the UE may adjust its receiver bandwidth to accommodatethe BWP for DL PRS that may or may not overlap with the BWP for DL datatransmission. Thus, the AP may select what action the UE should performaccording to whether the BWP for DL PRS fully or partially overlaps withthe BWP for DL data transmission. In accordance with someembodiments/aspects, at step 206, the AP may transmit to the UE, theconfigured BWP for DL PRS, the BWP for DL data transmission, and theselected action.

The steps or functions in FIGS. 1 and 2 can be performed by one or moreof the application circuitry 605 or 705, baseband circuitry 610 or 710,or processors 1214.

It is to be appreciated that other processes, which are not shown inflowchart illustrations (e.g., FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, etc.), are set forthherein.

For one or more embodiments/aspects, at least one of the component(s),device(s), system(s), or portions thereof that are set forth in one ormore of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one or moreoperations, techniques, processes, and/or methods as set forth in theexample section below. For example, the baseband circuitry, as describedabove in connection with one or more of the preceding figures, may beconfigured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples setforth below. For another example, circuitry associated with a UE, basestation, network element, etc. as described above in connection with oneor more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate inaccordance with one or more of the examples set forth below in theexample section. For yet another example, an apparatus may be configuredto operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forthbelow. For one more example, an apparatus may comprise means foroperating in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth belowin the example section

Systems and Implementations

FIG. 3 illustrates an example architecture of a system 300 of a network,in accordance with various embodiments/aspects. The followingdescription is provided for an example system 300 that operates inconjunction with the LTE system standards and 5G or NR system standardsas provided by 3GPP technical specifications. However, the exampleembodiments/aspects are not limited in this regard and the describedembodiments/aspects may apply to other networks that benefit from theprinciples described herein, such as future 3GPP systems (e.g., SixthGeneration (6G)) systems, IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX,etc.), or the like.

As shown in FIG. 3, the system 300 includes UE 301 a and UE 301 b(collectively referred to as “UEs 301” or “UE 301”). In this example,UEs 301 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreenmobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks),but may also comprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such asconsumer electronics devices, cellular phones, smartphones, featurephones, tablet computers, wearable computer devices, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handsets, desktop computers, laptopcomputers, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), in-car entertainment (ICE)devices, an Instrument Cluster (IC), head-up display (HUD) devices,on-board diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashtop mobile equipment (DME),mobile data terminals (MDTs), Electronic Engine Management System(EEMS), electronic/engine control units (ECUs), electronic/enginecontrol modules (ECMs), embedded systems, microcontrollers, controlmodules, engine management systems (EMS), networked or “smart”appliances, MTC devices, M2M, IoT devices, and/or the like.

In some embodiments/aspects, any of the UEs 301 may be IoT UEs, whichmay comprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoTapplications utilizing short-lived UE connections. An IoT UE can utilizetechnologies such as M2M or MTC for exchanging data with an MTC serveror device via a PLMN, ProSe or D2D communication, sensor networks, orIoT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiatedexchange of data. An IoT network describes interconnecting IoT UEs,which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices(within the Internet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. TheIoT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages,status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network.

The UEs 301 may be configured to connect, for example, communicativelycoupled, with an access network (AN) or a RAN 310. Inembodiments/aspects, the RAN 310 may be an NG RAN or a 5G RAN, anE-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN, such as a UTRAN or GERAN. As used herein, theterm “NG RAN” or the like may refer to a RAN 310 that operates in an NRor 5G system 300, and the term “E-UTRAN” or the like may refer to a RAN310 that operates in an LTE or 4G system 300. The UEs 301 utilizeconnections (or channels) 303 and 304, respectively, each of whichcomprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussed infurther detail below).

In this example, the connections 303 and 304 are illustrated as an airinterface to enable communicative coupling and can be consistent withcellular communications protocols, such as a GSM protocol, a CDMAnetwork protocol, a PTT protocol, a POC protocol, a UMTS protocol, a3GPP LTE protocol, a 5G protocol, a NR protocol, and/or any of the othercommunications protocols discussed herein. In embodiments/aspects, theUEs 301 may directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface305. The ProSe interface 305 may alternatively be referred to as an SLinterface 305 and may comprise one or more logical channels, includingbut not limited to a PSCCH, a PSSCH, a PSDCH, and a PSBCH.

The UE 301 b is shown to be configured to access an AP 306 (alsoreferred to as “WLAN node 306,” “WLAN 306,” “WLAN Termination 306,” “WT306” or the like) via connection 307. The connection 307 can comprise alocal wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 306 would comprise a wireless fidelity(Wi-Fi®) router. In this example, the AP 306 is shown to be connected tothe Internet without connecting to the core network of the wirelesssystem (described in further detail below). In variousembodiments/aspects, the UE 301 b, RAN 310, and AP 306 may be configuredto utilize LWA operation and/or LWIP operation. The LWA operation mayinvolve the UE 301 b in RRC_CONNECTED being configured by a RAN node 311a-b to utilize radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operation mayinvolve the UE 301 b using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 307)via IPsec protocol tunneling to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g.,IP packets) sent over the connection 307. IPsec tunneling may includeencapsulating the entirety of original IP packets and adding a newpacket header, thereby protecting the original header of the IP packets.

The RAN 310 can include one or more AN nodes or RAN nodes 311 a and 311b (collectively referred to as “RAN nodes 311” or “RAN node 311”) thatenable the connections 303 and 304. As used herein, the terms “accessnode,” “access point,” or the like may describe equipment that providesthe radio baseband functions for data and/or voice connectivity betweena network and one or more users. These access nodes can be referred toas BS, gNB s, RAN nodes, eNB s, NodeBs, RSUs, TRxPs or TRPs, and soforth, and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial accesspoints) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographicarea (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the term “NG RAN node” or the likemay refer to a RAN node 311 that operates in an NR or 5G system 300 (forexample, a gNB), and the term “E-UTRAN node” or the like may refer to aRAN node 311 that operates in an LTE or 4G system 300 (e.g., an eNB).According to various embodiments/aspects, the RAN nodes 311 may beimplemented as one or more of a dedicated physical device such as amacrocell base station, and/or a low power (LP) base station forproviding femtocells, picocells or other like cells having smallercoverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared tomacrocells.

In some embodiments/aspects, all or parts of the RAN nodes 311 may beimplemented as one or more software entities running on server computersas part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN and/ora virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these embodiments/aspects, theCRAN or vBBUP may implement a RAN function split, such as a PDCP splitwherein RRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and other L2protocol entities are operated by individual RAN nodes 311; a MAC/PHYsplit wherein RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by theCRAN/vBBUP and the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes 311; ora “lower PHY” split wherein RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers and upperportions of the PHY layer are operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and lowerportions of the PHY layer are operated by individual RAN nodes 311. Thisvirtualized framework allows the freed-up processor cores of the RANnodes 311 to perform other virtualized applications. In someimplementations, an individual RAN node 311 may represent individualgNB-DUs that are connected to a gNB-CU via individual F1 interfaces (notshown by FIG. 3). In these implementations, the gNB-DUs may include oneor more remote radio heads or RFEMs (see, e.g., FIG. 6), and the gNB-CUmay be operated by a server that is located in the RAN 310 (not shown)or by a server pool in a similar manner as the CRAN/vBBUP. Additionallyor alternatively, one or more of the RAN nodes 311 maybe next generationeNBs (ng-eNBs), which are RAN nodes that provide E-UTRA user plane andcontrol plane protocol terminations toward the UEs 301, and areconnected to a 5GC (e.g., CN 520 of FIG. 5) via an NG interface(discussed infra).

In V2X scenarios, one or more of the RAN nodes 311 may be or act asRSUs. The term “Road Side Unit” or “RSU” may refer to any transportationinfrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may beimplemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relativelystationary) UE, where an RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referredto as a “UE-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may bereferred to as an “eNB-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by a gNB maybe referred to as a “gNB-type RSU,” and the like. In one example, an RSUis a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located ona roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs 301(vUEs 301). The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry tostore intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, as well asapplications/software to sense and control ongoing vehicular andpedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate on the 5.9 GHz Direct ShortRange Communications (DSRC) band to provide very low latencycommunications required for high-speed events, such as crash avoidance,traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSUmay operate on the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned lowlatency communications, as well as other cellular communicationsservices. Additionally, or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fihotspot (2.4 GHz band) and/or provide connectivity to one or morecellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communications. Thecomputing device(s) and some or all of the radiofrequency circuitry ofthe RSU may be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoorinstallation and may include a network interface controller to provide awired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller and/ora backhaul network.

Any of the RAN nodes 311 can terminate the air interface protocol andcan be the first point of contact for the UEs 301. In someembodiments/aspects, any of the RAN nodes 311 can fulfill variouslogical functions for the RAN 310 including, but not limited to, theradio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearermanagement, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management anddata packet scheduling, and mobility management.

In embodiments/aspects, the UEs 301 can be configured to communicateusing OFDM communication signals with each other or with any of the RANnodes 311 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance withvarious communication techniques, such as but not limited to, an OFDMAcommunication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a SC-FDMAcommunication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelinkcommunications), although the scope of the embodiments/aspects is notlimited in this respect. The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality oforthogonal subcarriers.

In some embodiments/aspects, a downlink resource grid can be used fordownlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes 311 to the UEs 301,while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid canbe a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequencyresource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in eachslot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practicefor OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resourceallocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds toone OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration ofthe resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radioframe. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted asa resource element. Each resource grid comprises a number of resourceblocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels toresource elements. Each resource block comprises a collection ofresource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent thesmallest quantity of resources that currently can be allocated. Severaldifferent physical downlink channels are conveyed using such resourceblocks.

According to various embodiments/aspects, the UEs 301, 302 and the RANnodes 311, 312 communicate data (for example, transmit and receive) dataover a licensed medium (also referred to as the “licensed spectrum”and/or the “licensed band”) and an unlicensed shared medium (referred toas the “unlicensed spectrum” and/or the “unlicensed band”). The licensedspectrum may include channels that operate in the frequency range ofapproximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, whereas the unlicensedspectrum may include the 5 GHz band.

To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the UEs 301, 302, and the RANnodes 311, 312 may operate using LAA, eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms. Inthese implementations, the UEs 301, 302, and the RAN nodes 311, 312 mayperform one or more known medium-sensing operations and/orcarrier-sensing operations in order to determine whether one or morechannels in the unlicensed spectrum is unavailable or otherwise occupiedprior to transmitting in the unlicensed spectrum. The medium/carriersensing operations may be performed according to a listen-before-talk(LBT) protocol.

LBT is a mechanism whereby equipment (for example, UEs 301, 302, RANnodes 311, 312, etc.) senses a medium (for example, a channel or carrierfrequency) and transmits when the medium is sensed to be idle (or when aspecific channel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied). The mediumsensing operation may include CCA, which utilizes at least ED todetermine the presence or absence of other signals on a channel in orderto determine if a channel is occupied or clear. This LBT mechanismallows cellular/LAA networks to coexist with incumbent systems in theunlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensingRF energy across an intended transmission band for a period of time andcomparing the sensed RF energy to a predefined or configured threshold.

Typically, the incumbent systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based onIEEE 802.11 technologies. WLAN employs a contention-based channel accessmechanism, called CSMA/CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobilestation (MS) such as UE 301 or 302, AP 306, or the like) intends totransmit, the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmission.Additionally, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid collisions insituations where more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle andtransmits at the same time. The backoff mechanism may be a counter thatis drawn randomly within the CWS, which is increased exponentially uponthe occurrence of collision and reset to a minimum value when thetransmission succeeds. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhatsimilar to the CSMA/CA of WLAN. In some implementations, the LBTprocedure for DL or UL transmission bursts, including PDSCH or PUSCHtransmissions, respectively, may have an LAA contention window that isvariable in length between X and Y ECCA slots, where X and Y are minimumand maximum values for the CWSs for LAA. In one example, the minimum CWSfor an LAA transmission maybe 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size ofthe CWS and an MCOT (for example, a transmission burst) may be based ongovernmental regulatory requirements.

The LAA mechanisms are built upon CA technologies of LTE-Advancedsystems. In CA, each aggregated carrier is referred to as a CC. A CC mayhave a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz, and a maximum of fiveCCs can be aggregated, and therefore, a maximum aggregated bandwidth is100 MHz. In FDD systems, the number of aggregated carriers can bedifferent for DL and UL, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or lowerthan the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, individual CCscan have a different bandwidth than other CCs. In TDD systems, thenumber of CCs, as well as the bandwidths of each CC, is usually the samefor DL and UL.

CA also comprises individual serving cells to provide individual CCs.The coverage of the serving cells may differ, for example, because CCson different frequency bands will experience different path loss. Aprimary service cell or PCell may provide a PCC for both UL and DL andmay handle RRC and NAS related activities. The other serving cells arereferred to as SCells, and each SCell may provide an individual SCC forboth UL and DL. The SCCs may be added and removed as required, whilechanging the PCC may require the UE 301, 302, to undergo a handover. InLAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells may operate in theunlicensed spectrum (referred to as “LAA SCells”), and the LAA SCellsare assisted by a PCell operating in the licensed spectrum. When a UE isconfigured with more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive UL grants onthe configured LAA SCells, indicating different PUSCH starting positionswithin the same subframe.

The PDSCH carries user data and higher-layer signaling to the UEs 301.The PDCCH carries information about the transport format and resourceallocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It mayalso inform the UEs 301 about the transport format, resource allocation,and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically,downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resourceblocks to the UE 301 b within a cell) may be performed at any of the RANnodes 311 based on channel quality information fed back from any of theUEs 301. The downlink resource assignment information may be sent on thePDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 301.

The PDCCH uses CCEs to convey the control information. Before beingmapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols may firstbe organized into quadruplets, which may then be permuted using asub-block interleaved for rate matching. Each PDCCH may be transmittedusing one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to ninesets of four physical resource elements known as REGs. Four QuadraturePhase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCHcan be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of theDCI and the channel condition. There can be four or more different PDCCHformats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregationlevel, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments/aspects may use concepts for resource allocation forcontrol channel information that are an extension of the above-describedconcepts. For example, some embodiments/aspects may utilize an EPDCCHthat uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. TheEPDCCH may be transmitted using one or more ECCEs. Similar to above,each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elementsknown as EREGs. An ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs in somesituations.

The RAN nodes 311 may be configured to communicate with one another viainterface 312. In embodiments/aspects where the system 300 is an LTEsystem (e.g., when CN 320 is an EPC 420 as in FIG. 4), the interface 312may be an X2 interface 312. The X2 interface may be defined between twoor more RAN nodes 311 (e.g., two or more eNBs and the like) that connectto EPC 320, and/or between two eNBs connecting to EPC 320. In someimplementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface(X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U may provideflow control mechanisms for user data packets transferred over the X2interface. The X2-U may be used to communicate information about thedelivery of user data between eNBs. For example, the X2-U may providespecific sequence number information for user data transferred from aMeNB to a SeNB; information about successful in-sequence delivery ofPDCP PDUs to a UE 301 from an SeNB for user data; information of PDCPPDUs that were not delivered to a UE 301; information about a currentminimum desired buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting to the UE userdata; and the like. The X2-C may provide intra-LTE access mobilityfunctionality, including context transfers from source to target eNBs,user plane transport control, etc., load management functionality, aswell as inter-cell interference coordination functionality.

In embodiments/aspects where the system 300 is a 5G or NR system (e.g.,when CN 320 is a 5GC 520 as in FIG. 5), the interface 312 may be an Xninterface 312. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes311 (e.g., two or more gNBs and the like) that connect to 5GC 320,between a RAN node 311 (e.g., a gNB) connecting to 5GC 320 and an eNB,and/or between two eNBs connecting to 5GC 320. In some implementations,the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xncontrol plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U may provide non-guaranteeddelivery of user plane PDUs and support/provide data forwarding and flowcontrol functionality. The Xn-C may provide management and errorhandling functionality, functionality to manage the Xn-C interface,mobility support for UE 301 in a connected mode (e.g., CM-CONNECTED)including functionality to manage the UE mobility for connected modebetween one or more RAN nodes 311. The mobility support may includecontext transfer from an old (source) serving RAN node 311 to new(target) serving RAN node 311, and control of user plane tunnels betweenold (source) serving RAN node 311 to new (target) serving RAN node 311.A protocol stack of the Xn-U may include a transport network layer builton Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer and a GTP-U layer on top of aUDP and/or IP layer(s) to carry user plane PDUs. The Xn-C protocol stackmay include an application layer signaling protocol (referred to as XnApplication Protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport network layer that isbuilt on SCTP. The SCTP may be on top of an IP layer and may provide theguaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport IPlayer, the point-to-point transmission is used to deliver the signalingPDUs. In other implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack and/or the Xn-Cprotocol stack may be the same or similar to the user plane and/orcontrol plane protocol stack(s) shown and described herein.

The RAN 310 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network—inthis embodiment, a core network (CN) 320. The CN 320 may comprise aplurality of network elements 322, which are configured to offer variousdata and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (e.g.,users of UEs 301) who are connected to the CN 320 via the RAN 310. Thecomponents of the CN 320 may be implemented in one physical node orseparate physical nodes, including components to read and executeinstructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g.,a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In someembodiments/aspects, NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of theabove-described network node functions via executable instructionsstored in one or more computer-readable storage mediums (described infurther detail below). A logical instantiation of the CN 320 may bereferred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portionof the CN 320 may be referred to as a network sub-slice. NFVarchitectures and infrastructures may be used to virtualize one or morenetwork functions, alternatively performed by proprietary hardware, ontophysical resources comprising a combination of industry-standard serverhardware, storage hardware, or switches. In other words, NFV systems canbe used to execute virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one ormore EPC components/functions.

Generally, the application server 330 may be an element offeringapplications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g.,UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server 330can also be configured to support one or more communication services(e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, socialnetworking services, etc.) for the UEs 301 via the EPC 320.

In embodiments/aspects, the CN 320 may be a 5GC (referred to as “5GC320” or the like), and the RAN 310 may be connected with the CN 320 viaan NG interface 313. In embodiments/aspects, the NG interface 313 may besplit into two parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 314, whichcarries traffic data between the RAN nodes 311 and a UPF, and the S1control plane (NG-C) interface 315, which is a signaling interfacebetween the RAN nodes 311 and AMFs. Embodiments/aspects where the CN 320is a 5GC 320 are discussed in more detail with regard to FIG. 5.

In embodiments/aspects, the CN 320 may be a 5G CN (referred to as “5GC320” or the like), while in other embodiments/aspects, the CN 320 may bean EPC). Where CN 320 is an EPC (referred to as “EPC 320” or the like),the RAN 310 may be connected with the CN 320 via an S1 interface 313. Inembodiments/aspects, the S1 interface 313 may be split into two parts,an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 314, which carries traffic databetween the RAN nodes 311 and the S-GW, and the S1-MME interface 315,which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes 311 and MMES. Anexample architecture wherein the CN 320 is an EPC 320 is shown by FIG.4.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example architecture of a system 400, including afirst CN 420, in accordance with various embodiments/aspects. In thisexample, system 400 may implement the LTE standard wherein the CN 420 isan EPC 420 that corresponds with CN 320 of FIG. 3. Additionally, the UE401 may be the same or similar to the UEs 301 of FIG. 3, and the E-UTRAN410 may be a RAN that is the same or similar to the RAN 310 of FIG. 3,and which may include RAN nodes 311 discussed previously. The CN 420 maycomprise MMEs 421, an S-GW 422, a P-GW 423, an HSS 424, and an SGSN 425.

The MMEs 421 may be similar in function to the control plane of legacySGSN and may implement MM functions to keep track of the currentlocation of a UE 401. The MMEs 421 may perform various MM procedures tomanage mobility aspects in access, such as gateway selection andtracking area list management. MM (also referred to as “EPS MM” or “EMM”in E-UTRAN systems) may refer to all applicable procedures, methods,data storage, etc. that are used to maintain knowledge about a presentlocation of the UE 401, provide user identity confidentiality, and/orperform other like services to users/subscribers. Each UE 401 and theMME 421 may include an MM or EMM sublayer, and an MM context may beestablished in the UE 401, and the MME 421 when an attach procedure issuccessfully completed. The MM context may be a data structure ordatabase object that stores MM-related information of the UE 401. TheMMEs 421 may be coupled with the HSS 424 via an S6a reference point,coupled with the SGSN 425 via an S3 reference point, and coupled withthe S-GW 422 via an S11 reference point.

The SGSN 425 may be a node that serves the UE 401 by tracking thelocation of an individual UE 401 and performing security functions. Inaddition, the SGSN 425 may perform Inter-EPC node signaling for mobilitybetween 2G/3G and E-UTRAN 3GPP access networks; PDN and S-GW selectionas specified by the MMEs 421; handling of UE 401 time zone functions asspecified by the MMEs 421; and MME selection for handovers to E-UTRAN3GPP access network. The S3 reference point between the MMEs 421 and theSGSN 425 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3GPPaccess network mobility in idle and/or active states.

The HSS 424 may comprise a database for network users, includingsubscription-related information, to support the network entities'handling of communication sessions. The EPC 420 may comprise one orseveral HSSs 424, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on thecapacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. Forexample, the HSS 424 can provide support for routing/roaming,authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, locationdependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS 424 and theMMEs 421 may enable the transfer of subscription and authentication datafor authenticating/authorizing user access to the EPC 420 between HSS424 and the MMEs 421.

The S-GW 422 may terminate the S1 interface 313 (“S1-U” in FIG. 4)toward the RAN 410, and routes data packets between the RAN 410 and theEPC 420. In addition, the S-GW 422 may be a local mobility anchor pointfor inter-RAN node handovers and may provide an anchor for inter-3GPPmobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging,and some policy enforcement. The S11 reference point between the S-GW422 and the MMEs 421 may provide a control plane between the MMEs 421and the S-GW 422. The S-GW 422 may be coupled with the P-GW 423 via anS5 reference point.

The P-GW 423 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN 430. The P-GW423 may route data packets between the EPC 420 and external networkssuch as a network, including the application server 330 (alternativelyreferred to as an “AF”) via an IP interface 325 (see, e.g., FIG. 3). Inembodiments/aspects, the P-GW 423 may be communicatively coupled to anapplication server (application server 330 of FIG. 3 or PDN 430 in FIG.4) via an IP communications interface 325 (see, e.g., FIG. 3). The S5reference point between the P-GW 423 and the S-GW 422 may provide userplane tunneling and tunnel management between the P-GW 423 and the S-GW422. The S5 reference point may also be used for S-GW 422 relocation dueto UE 401 mobility and if the S-GW 422 needs to connect to anon-collocated P-GW 423 for the required PDN connectivity. The P-GW 423may further include a node for policy enforcement and charging datacollection (e.g., PCEF (not shown)). Additionally, the SGi referencepoint between the P-GW 423 and the packet data network (PDN) 430 may bean operator external public, a private PDN, or an intra operator packetdata network, for example, for provision of IMS services. The P-GW 423may be coupled with a PCRF 426 via a Gx reference point.

PCRF 426 is the policy and charging control element of the EPC 420. In anon-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF 426 in the Home PublicLand Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE 401's Internet ProtocolConnectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario witha local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE401's IP-CAN session, a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within an HPLMN and a VisitedPCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). ThePCRF 426 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 430via the P-GW 423. The application server 430 may signal the PCRF 426 toindicate a new service flow and select the appropriate QoS and chargingparameters. The PCRF 426 may provision this rule into a PCEF (not shown)with the appropriate TFT and QCI, which commences the QoS and chargingas specified by the application server 430. The Gx reference pointbetween the PCRF 426 and the P-GW 423 may allow for the transfer of QoSpolicy and charging rules from the PCRF 426 to PCEF in the P-GW 423. AnRx reference point may reside between the PDN 430 (or “AF 430”) and thePCRF 426.

FIG. 5 illustrates an architecture of a system 500, including a secondCN 520, in accordance with various embodiments/aspects. The system 500is shown to include a UE 501, which may be the same or similar to theUEs 301 and UE 401 discussed previously; a (R)AN 510, which may be thesame or similar to the RAN 310 and RAN 410 discussed previously, andwhich may include RAN nodes 311 discussed previously; and a DN 503,which may be, for example, operator services, Internet access or 3rdparty services; and a 5GC 520. The 5GC 520 may include an AUSF 522; anAMF 521; a SMF 524; a NEF 523; a PCF 526; a NRF 525; a UDM 527; an AF528; a UPF 502; and a NSSF 529.

The UPF 502 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RATmobility, an external PDU session point of interconnect to DN 503, and abranching point to support multi-homed PDU session. The UPF 502 may alsoperform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection,enforce the user plane part of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets(UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handlingfor a user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, DL/UL rateenforcement), perform Uplink Traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flowmapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, andperform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notificationtriggering. UPF 502 may include an uplink classifier to support routingtraffic flows to a data network. The DN 503 may represent variousnetwork operator services, Internet access, or third party services. DN503 may include, or be similar to, application server 330 discussedpreviously. The UPF 502 may interact with the SMF 524 via an N4reference point between the SMF 524 and the UPF 502.

The AUSF 522 may store data for authentication of UE 501 and handleauthentication-related functionality. The AUSF 522 may facilitate acommon authentication framework for various access types. The AUSF 522may communicate with the AMF 521 via an N12 reference point between theAMF 521 and the AUSF 522; and may communicate with the UDM 527 via anN13 reference point between the UDM 527 and the AUSF 522. Additionally,the AUSF 522 may exhibit a Nausf service-based interface.

The AMF 521 may be responsible for registration management (e.g., forregistering UE 501, etc.), connection management, reachabilitymanagement, mobility management, and lawful interception of AMF-relatedevents, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 521 may bea termination point for an N11 reference point between the AMF 521 andthe SMF 524. The AMF 521 may provide transport for SM messages betweenthe UE 501 and the SMF 524, and act as a transparent proxy for routingSM messages. AMF 521 may also provide transport for SMS messages betweenUE 501 and an SMSF (not shown in FIG. 5). AMF 521 may act as SEAF, whichmay include interaction with the AUSF 522 and the UE 501, receipt of anintermediate key that was established as a result of the UE 501authentication process. Where USIM based authentication is used, the AMF521 may retrieve the security material from the AUSF 522. AMF 521 mayalso include an SCM function, which receives a key from the SEA that ituses to derive access-network specific keys. Furthermore, AMF 521 may bea termination point of a RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2reference point between the (R)AN 510 and the AMF 521; and the AMF 521may be a termination point of NAS (N1) signaling, and perform NASciphering and integrity protection.

AMF 521 may also support NAS signaling with a UE 501 over an N3 IWFinterface. The N3IWF may be used to provide access to untrustedentities. N3IWF may be a termination point for the N2 interface betweenthe (R)AN 510 and the AMF 521 for the control plane and maybe atermination point for the N3 reference point between the (R)AN 510 andthe UPF 502 for the user plane. As such, the AMF 521 may handle N2signaling from the SMF 524 and the AMF 521 for PDU sessions and QoS,encapsulate/de-encapsulate packets for IPSec and N3 tunneling, mark N3user-plane packets in the uplink, and enforce QoS corresponding to N3packet-marking taking into account QoS requirements associated with suchmarking received over N2. N3IWF may also relay uplink and downlinkcontrol-plane NAS signaling between the UE 501 and AMF 521 via an N1reference point between the UE 501 and the AMF 521, and relay uplink anddownlink user-plane packets between the UE 501 and UPF 502. The N3IWFalso provides mechanisms for IPsec tunnel establishment with the UE 501.The AMF 521 may exhibit a Namf service-based interface and maybe atermination point for an N14 reference point between two AMFs 521 and anN17 reference point between the AMF 521 and a 5G-EIR (not shown by FIG.5).

The UE 501 may need to register with the AMF 521 in order to receivenetwork services. RM is used to register or deregister the UE 501 withthe network (e.g., AMF 521), and establish a UE context in the network(e.g., AMF 521). The UE 501 may operate in an RM-REGISTERED state or anRM-DEREGISTERED state. In the RM-DEREGISTERED state, the UE 501 is notregistered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 521 holds novalid location or routing information for the UE 501, so the UE 501 isnot reachable by the AMF 521. In the RM-REGISTERED state, the UE 501 isregistered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 521 may hold avalid location or routing information for the UE 501, so the UE 501 isreachable by the AMF 521. In the RM-REGISTERED state, the UE 501 mayperform mobility Registration Update procedures, perform periodicRegistration Update procedures triggered by expiration of the periodicupdate timer (e.g., to notify the network that the UE 501 is stillactive), and perform a Registration Update procedure to update UEcapability information or to re-negotiate protocol parameters with thenetwork, among others.

The AMF 521 may store one or more RM contexts for the UE 501, where eachRM context is associated with specific access to the network. The RMcontext may be a data structure, database object, etc. that indicates orstores, inter alia, a registration state per access type, and theperiodic update timer. The AMF 521 may also store a 5GC MM context thatmay be the same or similar to the (E)MM context discussed previously. Invarious embodiments/aspects, the AMF 521 may store a CE mode BRestriction parameter of the UE 501 in an associated MM context or RMcontext. The AMF 521 may also derive the value, when needed, from theUE's usage setting parameter already stored in the UE context (and/orMM/RM context).

CM may be used to establish and release a signaling connection betweenthe UE 501 and the AMF 521 over the N1 interface. The signalingconnection is used to enable NAS signaling exchange between the UE 501and the CN 520, and comprises both the signaling connection between theUE and the AN (e.g., RRC connection or UE-N3IWF connection for non-3GPPaccess) and the N2 connection for the UE 501 between the AN (e.g., RAN510) and the AMF 521. The UE 501 may operate in one of two CM states,CM-IDLE mode or CM-CONNECTED mode. When the UE 501 is operating in theCM-IDLE state/mode, the UE 501 may have no NAS signaling connectionestablished with the AMF 521 over the N1 interface, and there may be(R)AN 510 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and/or N3 connections) for theUE 501. When the UE 501 is operating in the CM-CONNECTED state/mode, theUE 501 may have an established NAS signaling connection with the AMF 521over the N1 interface, and there may be a (R)AN 510 signaling connection(e.g., N2 and/or N3 connections) for the UE 501. Establishment of an N2connection between the (R)AN 510 and the AMF 521 may cause the UE 501 totransition from CM-IDLE mode to CM-CONNECTED mode, and the UE 501 maytransition from the CM-CONNECTED mode to the CM-IDLE mode when N2signaling between the (R)AN 510 and the AMF 521 is released.

The SMF 524 may be responsible for SM (e.g., session establishment,modify and release, including tunnel maintain between UPF and AN node);UE IP address allocation and management (including optionalauthorization); selection and control of UP function; configuringtraffic steering at UPF to route traffic to proper destination;termination of interfaces toward policy control functions; controllingpart of policy enforcement and QoS; lawful intercept (for SM events andinterface to LI system); termination of SM parts of NAS messages;downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information, sentvia AMF over N2 to AN; and determining SSC mode of a session. SM mayrefer to the management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or “session”may refer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables theexchange of PDUs between a UE 501 and a data network (DN) 503 identifiedby a Data Network Name (DNN). PDU sessions may be established upon UE501 request, modified upon UE 501 and 5GC 520 request, and released uponUE 501 and 5GC 520 request using NAS SM signaling exchanged over the N1reference point between the UE 501 and the SMF 524. Upon request from anapplication server, the 5GC 520 may trigger a specific application inthe UE 501. In response to receipt of the trigger message, the UE 501may pass the trigger message (or relevant parts/information of thetrigger message) to one or more identified applications in the UE 501.The identified application(s) in the UE 501 may establish a PDU sessionfor a specific DNN. The SMF 524 may check whether the UE 501 requestsare compliant with user subscription information associated with the UE501. In this regard, the SMF 524 may retrieve and/or request to receiveupdate notifications on SMF 524 level subscription data from the UDM527.

The SMF 524 may include the following roaming functionality: handlinglocal enforcement to apply QoS SLAB (VPLMN); charging data collectionand charging interface (VPLMN); lawful intercept (in VPLMN for SM eventsand interface to LI system); and support for interaction with externalDN for transport of signaling for PDU sessionauthorization/authentication by external DN. An N16 reference pointbetween two SMFs 524 may be included in the system 500, which may bebetween another SMF 524 in a visited network and the SMF 524 in the homenetwork in roaming scenarios. Additionally, the SMF 524 may exhibit theNsmf service-based interface.

The NEF 523 may provide means for securely exposing the services andcapabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third party,internal exposure/re-exposure, Application Functions (e.g., AF 528),edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In suchembodiments/aspects, the NEF 523 may authenticate, authorize, and/orthrottle the AFs. NEF 523 may also translate information exchanged withthe AF 528 and information exchanged with internal network functions.For example, the NEF 523 may translate between an AF-Service-Identifierand an internal 5GC information. NEF 523 may also receive informationfrom other network functions (NFs) based on the exposed capabilities ofother network functions. This information may be stored at the NEF 523as structured data, or at a data storage NF using standardizedinterfaces. The stored information can then be re-exposed by the NEF 523to other NFs and AFs, and/or used for other purposes such as analytics.Additionally, the NEF 523 may exhibit a Nnef service-based interface.

The NRF 525 may support service discovery functions, receive NFdiscovery requests from NF instances, and provide the information of thediscovered NF instances to the NF instances. NRF 525 also maintainsinformation of available NF instances and their supported services. Asused herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like mayrefer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer to aconcrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringthe execution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 525 may exhibit theNnrf service-based interface.

The PCF 526 may provide policy rules to control plane function(s) toenforce them and may support a unified policy framework to governnetwork behavior. The PCF 526 may also implement an FE to accesssubscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of theUDM 527. The PCF 526 may communicate with the AMF 521 via an N15reference point between the PCF 526 and the AMF 521, which may include aPCF 526 in a visited network and the AMF 521 in case of roamingscenarios. The PCF 526 may communicate with the AF 528 via an N5reference point between the PCF 526 and the AF 528, and with the SMF 524via an N7 reference point between the PCF 526 and the SMF 524. Thesystem 500 and/or CN 520 may also include an N24 reference point betweenthe PCF 526 (in the home network) and a PCF 526 in a visited network.Additionally, the PCF 526 may exhibit an Npcf service-based interface.

The UDM 527 may handle subscription-related information to support thenetwork entities' handling of communication sessions and may storesubscription data of UE 501. For example, subscription data may becommunicated between the UDM 527 and the AMF 521 via an N8 referencepoint between the UDM 527 and the AMF. The UDM 527 may include twoparts, an application FE and a UDR (the FE and UDR are not shown in FIG.5). The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM 527and the PCF 526, and/or structured data for exposure and applicationdata (including PFDs for application detection, application requestinformation for multiple UEs 501) for the NEF 523. The Nudrservice-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR 221 to allow the UDM527, PCF 526, and NEF 523 to access a particular set of the stored data,as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe tonotification of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include aUDM-FE, which is in charge of processing credentials, locationmanagement, and subscription management, and so on. Several differentfront ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FEaccesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performsauthentication credential processing, user identification handling,access authorization, registration/mobility management, and subscriptionmanagement. The UDR may interact with the SMF 524 via an N10 referencepoint between the UDM 527 and the SMF 524. UDM 527 may also support SMSmanagement, wherein an SMS-FE implements a similar application logic, asdiscussed previously. Additionally, the UDM 527 may exhibit the Nudmservice-based interface.

The AF 528 may provide application influence on traffic routing, provideaccess to the NCE, and interact with the policy framework for policycontrol. The NCE may be a mechanism that allows the 5GC 520 and AF 528to provide information to each other via NEF 523, which may be used foredge computing implementations. In such implementations, the networkoperator and third party services may be hosted close to the UE 501access point of attachment to achieve an efficient service deliverythrough the reduced end-to-end latency and load on the transportnetwork. For edge computing implementations, the 5GC may select a UPF502 close to the UE 501 and execute traffic steering from the UPF 502 toDN 503 via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UE subscriptiondata, UE location, and information provided by the AF 528. In this way,the AF 528 may influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based onoperator deployment, when AF 528 is considered a trusted entity, thenetwork operator may permit AF 528 to interact directly with relevantNFs. Additionally, the AF 528 may exhibit a Naf service-based interface.

The NSSF 529 may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE501. The NSSF 529 may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping tothe subscribed S-NSSAIs if needed. The NSSF 529 may also determine theAMF set to be used to serve the UE 501, or a list of candidate AMF(s)521 based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF525. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 501may be triggered by the AMF 521 with which the UE 501 is registered byinteracting with the NSSF 529, which may lead to a change of AMF 521.The NSSF 529 may interact with the AMF 521 via an N22 reference pointbetween AMF 521 and NSSF 529 and may communicate with another NSSF 529in a visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown by FIG. 5).Additionally, the NSSF 529 may exhibit an Nnssf service-based interface.

As discussed previously, the CN 520 may include an SMSF, which may beresponsible for SMS subscription checking and verification, and relayingSM messages to/from the UE 501 to/from other entities, such as anSMS-GMSC/IWMSC/SMS-router. The SMS may also interact with AMF 521 andUDM 527 for a notification procedure that the UE 501 is available forSMS transfer (e.g., set a UE not reachable flag, and notify UDM 527 whenUE 501 is available for SMS).

The CN 120 may also include other elements that are not shown in FIG. 5,such as a Data Storage system/architecture, a 5G-EIR, a SEPP, and thelike. The Data Storage system may include a SDSF, an UDSF, and/or thelike. Any NF may store and retrieve unstructured data into/from the UDSF(e.g., UE contexts), via N18 reference point between any NF and the UDSF(not shown by FIG. 5). Individual NFs may share a UDSF for storing theirrespective unstructured data, or individual NFs may each have their ownUDSF located at or near the individual NFs. Additionally, the UDSF mayexhibit a Nudsf service-based interface (not shown in FIG. 5). The5G-EIR may be an NF that checks the status of PEI for determiningwhether particular equipment/entities are blacklisted from the network,and the SEPP may be a non-transparent proxy that performs topologyhiding, message filtering, and policing on inter-PLMN control planeinterfaces.

Additionally, there may be many more reference points and/orservice-based interfaces between the NF services in the NFs; however,these interfaces and reference points have been omitted from FIG. 5 forclarity. In one example, the CN 520 may include an Nx interface, whichis an inter-CN interface between the MME (e.g., MME 421) and the AMF 521in order to enable interworking between CN 520 and CN 420. Other exampleinterfaces/reference points may include an N5g-EIR service-basedinterface exhibited by a 5G-EIR, an N27 reference point between the NRFin the visited network and the NRF in the home network, and an N31reference point between the NS SF in the visited network and the NSSF inthe home network.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of infrastructure equipment 600 inaccordance with various embodiments/aspects. The infrastructureequipment 600 (or “system 600”) may be implemented as a base station,radio head, RAN node such as the RAN nodes 311 and/or AP 306 shown anddescribed previously, application server(s) 330, and/or any otherelement/device discussed herein. In other examples, the system 600 couldbe implemented in or by a UE.

The system 600 includes application circuitry 605, baseband circuitry610, one or more radio front end modules (RFEMs) 615, memory circuitry620, power management integrated circuitry (PMIC) 625, power teecircuitry 630, network controller circuitry 635, network interfaceconnector 640, satellite positioning circuitry 645, and user interface650. In some embodiments/aspects, the device 600 may include additionalelements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor,or input/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments/aspects, thecomponents described below may be included in more than one device. Forexample, said circuitries may be separately included in more than onedevice for CRAN, vBBU, or other like implementations.

Application circuitry 605 includes circuitry such as but not limited toone or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one ormore of low drop-out voltage regulators (LDOs), interrupt controllers,serial interfaces such as SPI, I²C or universal programmable serialinterface module, real-time clock (RTC), timer-counters includinginterval and watchdog timers, general-purpose input/output (I/O or TO),memory card controllers such as Secure Digital (SD) MultiMediaCard (MMC)or similar, Universal Serial Bus (USB) interfaces, Mobile IndustryProcessor Interface (MIPI) interfaces and Joint Test Access Group (JTAG)test access ports. The processors (or cores) of the applicationcircuitry 605 may be coupled with or may include memory/storage elementsand may be configured to execute instructions stored in thememory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems torun on the system 600. In some implementations, the memory/storageelements may be on-chip memory circuitry, which may include any suitablevolatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM,Flash memory, solid-state memory, and/or any other type of memory devicetechnology, such as those discussed herein.

The processor(s) of application circuitry 605 may include, for example,one or more processor cores (CPUs), one or more application processors,one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more reducedinstruction set computing (RISC) processors, one or more Acorn RISCMachine (ARM) processors, one or more complex instruction set computing(CISC) processors, one or more digital signal processors (DSP), one ormore FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or moremicroprocessors or controllers, or any suitable combination thereof. Insome embodiments/aspects, the application circuitry 605 may comprise ormay be a special-purpose processor/controller to operate according tothe various embodiments/aspects herein. As examples, the processor(s) ofapplication circuitry 605 may include one or more Intel Pentium®, Core®,or Xeon® processor(s); Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen® processor(s),Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), or Epyc® processors; ARM-basedprocessor(s) licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd. such as the ARM Cortex-Afamily of processors and the ThunderX2® provided by Cavium™, Inc.; aMIPS-based design from MIPS Technologies, Inc. such as MIPS WarriorP-class processors; and/or the like. In some embodiments/aspects, thesystem 600 may not utilize application circuitry 605 and instead mayinclude a special-purpose processor/controller to process IP datareceived from an EPC or 5GC, for example.

In some implementations, the application circuitry 605 may include oneor more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors,programmable processing devices, or the like. The one or more hardwareaccelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and/or deeplearning (DL) accelerators. As examples, the programmable processingdevices may be one or more a field-programmable devices (FPDs) such asfield-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and the like; programmable logicdevices (PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs(HCPLDs), and the like; ASICs such as structured ASICs and the like;programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In such implementations, thecircuitry of application circuitry 605 may comprise logic blocks orlogic fabric, and other interconnected resources that may be programmedto perform various functions, such as the procedures, methods,functions, etc. of the various embodiments/aspects discussed herein. Insuch embodiments/aspects, the circuitry of application circuitry 605 mayinclude memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory(EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM),flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM),anti-fuses, etc.)) used to store logic blocks, logic fabric, data, etc.in look-up-tables (LUTs) and the like.

The baseband circuitry 610 may be implemented, for example, as asolder-down substrate, including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, ora multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Thevarious hardware electronic elements of baseband circuitry 610 arediscussed infra with regard to FIG. 8.

User interface circuitry 650 may include one or more user interfacesdesigned to enable user interaction with the system 600 or peripheralcomponent interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interactionwith the system 600. User interfaces may include, but are not limitedto, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), oneor more indicators (e.g., light-emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physicalkeyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, speakers orother audio emitting devices, microphones, a printer, a scanner, aheadset, a display screen or display device, etc. Peripheral componentinterfaces may include, but are not limited to, a non-volatile memoryport, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power supplyinterface, etc.

The radio front end modules (RFEMs) 615 may comprise a millimeter-wave(mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-mmWave radio frequency integratedcircuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-mmWaveRFICs may be physically separated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFICs mayinclude connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see,e.g., antenna array 811 of FIG. 8 infra), and the RFEM may be connectedto multiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both mmWave andsub-mmWave radio functions may be implemented in the same physical RFEM615, which incorporates both mmWave antennas and sub-mmWave.

The memory circuitry 620 may include one or more of volatile memoryincluding dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and/or synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase-change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistiverandom access memory (MRAM), etc., and may incorporate thethree-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memories from Intel® andMicron®. Memory circuitry 620 may be implemented as one or more ofsolder down packaged integrated circuits, socketed memory modules, andplug-in memory cards.

The PMIC 625 may include voltage regulators, surge protectors, poweralarm detection circuitry, and one or more backup power sources such asa battery or capacitor. The power alarm detection circuitry may detectone or more of brownout (under-voltage) and surge (over-voltage)conditions. The power tee circuitry 630 may provide for electrical powerdrawn from a network cable to provide both power supply and dataconnectivity to the infrastructure equipment 600 using a single cable.

The network controller circuitry 635 may provide connectivity to anetwork using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet,Ethernet over GRE Tunnels, Ethernet over Multiprotocol Label Switching(MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity may beprovided to/from the infrastructure equipment 600 via network interfaceconnector 640 using a physical connection, which may be electrical(commonly referred to as a “copper interconnect”), optical, or wireless.The network controller circuitry 635 may include one or more dedicatedprocessors and/or FPGAs to communicate using one or more of theaforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the networkcontroller circuitry 635 may include multiple controllers to provideconnectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

The positioning circuitry 645 includes circuitry to receive and decodesignals transmitted/broadcasted by a positioning network of a globalnavigation satellite system (GNSS). Examples of navigation satelliteconstellations (or GNSS) include United States' Global PositioningSystem (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation System (GLONASS), the EuropeanUnion's Galileo system, China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, aregional navigation system or GNSS augmentation system (e.g., Navigationwith Indian Constellation (NAVIC), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System(QZSS), France's Doppler Orbitography and Radio-positioning Integratedby Satellite (DORIS), etc.), or the like. The positioning circuitry 645comprises various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devicessuch as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, and the like tofacilitate OTA communications) to communicate with components of apositioning network, such as navigation satellite constellation nodes.In some embodiments/aspects, the positioning circuitry 645 may include aMicro-Technology for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (Micro-PNT) ICthat uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking/estimationwithout GNSS assistance. The positioning circuitry 645 may also be partof or interact with, the baseband circuitry 610 and/or RFEMs 615 tocommunicate with the nodes and components of the positioning network.The positioning circuitry 645 may also provide position data and/or timedata to the application circuitry 605, which may use the data tosynchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., RAN nodes 311,etc.), or the like.

The components shown by FIG. 6 may communicate with one another usinginterface circuitry, which may include any number of bus and/orinterconnect (IX) technologies such as industry-standard architecture(ISA), extended ISA (EISA), peripheral component interconnect (PCI),peripheral component interconnect extended (PCIx), PCI express (PCIe),or any number of other technologies. The bus/IX may be a proprietarybus, for example, used in an SoC based system. Other bus/IX systems maybe included, such as an I²C interface, an SPI interface, point to pointinterfaces, and a power bus, among others.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a platform 700 (or “device 700”) inaccordance with various embodiments/aspects. In embodiments/aspects, thecomputer platform 700 may be suitable for use as UEs 301, 302, 401,application servers 330, and/or any other element/device discussedherein. The platform 700 may include any combinations of the componentsshown in the example. The components of platform 700 may be implementedas integrated circuits (ICs), portions thereof, discrete electronicdevices, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or acombination thereof adapted in the computer platform 700, or ascomponents otherwise incorporated within a chassis of a larger system.The block diagram of FIG. 7 is intended to show a high-level view ofcomponents of the computer platform 700. However, some of the componentsshown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and adifferent arrangement of the components shown may occur in otherimplementations.

Application circuitry 705 includes circuitry such as but not limited toone or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one ormore of LDOs, interrupt controllers, serial interfaces such as SPI, I²Cor universal programmable serial interface module, RTC, timer-countersincluding interval and watchdog timers, general-purpose I/O, memory cardcontrollers such as SD MMC or similar, USB interfaces, MIPI interfaces,and JTAG test access ports. The processors (or cores) of the applicationcircuitry 705 may be coupled with or may include memory/storage elementsand may be configured to execute instructions stored in thememory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems torun on the system 700. In some implementations, the memory/storageelements may be on-chip memory circuitry, which may include any suitablevolatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM,Flash memory, solid-state memory, and/or any other type of memory devicetechnology, such as those discussed herein.

The processor(s) of application circuitry 605 may include, for example,one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one ormore GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, oneor more CISC processors, one or more DSP, one or more FPGAs, one or morePLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, amultithreaded processor, an ultra-low voltage processor, an embeddedprocessor, some other known processing element, or any suitablecombination thereof. In some embodiments/aspects, the applicationcircuitry 605 may comprise or may be a special-purposeprocessor/controller to operate according to the variousembodiments/aspects herein.

As examples, the processor(s) of application circuitry 705 may includean Intel® Architecture Core™ based processor, such as a Quark™, anAtom™, an i3, an i5, an i7, or an MCU-class processor, or another suchprocessor available from Intel® Corporation, Santa Clara, Calif. Theprocessors of the application circuitry 705 may also be one or more ofAdvanced Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen® processor(s) or AcceleratedProcessing Units (APUs); A5-A9 processor(s) from Apple® Inc.,Snapdragon™ processor(s) from Qualcomm® Technologies, Inc., TexasInstruments, Inc.® Open Multimedia Applications Platform (OMAP)™processor(s); a MIPS-based design from MIPS Technologies, Inc. such asMIPS Warrior M-class, Warrior I-class, and Warrior P-class processors;an ARM-based design licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARMCortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M family of processors; or the like. Insome implementations, the application circuitry 705 may be a part of asystem on a chip (SoC) in which the application circuitry 705 and othercomponents are formed into a single integrated circuit, or a singlepackage, such as the Edison™ or Galileo™ SoC boards from Intel®Corporation.

Additionally or alternatively, application circuitry 705 may includecircuitry such as but not limited to, one or more a field-programmabledevices (FPDs) such as FPGAs and the like; programmable logic devices(PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), andthe like; ASICs such as structured ASICs and the like; programmable SoCs(PSoCs); and the like. In such embodiments/aspects, the circuitry ofapplication circuitry 705 may comprise logic blocks or logic fabric, andother interconnected resources that may be programmed to perform variousfunctions, such as the procedures, methods, functions, etc. of thevarious embodiments/aspects discussed herein. In suchembodiments/aspects, the circuitry of application circuitry 705 mayinclude memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory(EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM),flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM),anti-fuses, etc.)) used to store logic blocks, logic fabric, data, etc.in look-up tables (LUTs) and the like.

The baseband circuitry 710 may be implemented, for example, as asolder-down substrate, including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to the main circuit board,or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Thevarious hardware electronic elements of baseband circuitry 710 arediscussed infra with regard to FIG. 8.

The RFEMs 715 may comprise a millimeter-wave (mmWave) RFEM and one ormore sub-mmWave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In someimplementations, the one or more sub-mmWave RFICs may be physicallyseparated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFICs may include connections to oneor more antennas or antenna arrays (see, e.g., antenna array 8811 ofFIG. 8 infra), and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. Inalternative implementations, both mmWave and sub-mmWave radio functionsmay be implemented in the same physical RFEM 715, which incorporatesboth mmWave antennas and sub-mmWave.

The memory circuitry 720 may include any number and type of memorydevices used to provide for a given amount of system memory. Asexamples, the memory circuitry 720 may include one or more of volatilememory including random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM) and/orsynchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase-change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistiverandom access memory (MRAM), etc. The memory circuitry 720 may bedeveloped in accordance with a Joint Electron Devices EngineeringCouncil (JEDEC) low power double data rate (LPDDR)-based design, such asLPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, or the like. Memory circuitry 720 may beimplemented as one or more of solder down packaged integrated circuits,single die package (SDP), dual die package (DDP) or quad die package(Q17P), socketed memory modules, dual inline memory modules (DIMMs)including microDIMMs or MiniDIMMs, and/or soldered onto a motherboardvia a ball grid array (BGA). In low power implementations, the memorycircuitry 720 may be on-die memory or registers associated with theapplication circuitry 705. To provide for persistent storage ofinformation such as data, applications, operating systems and so forth,memory circuitry 720 may include one or more mass storage devices, whichmay include, inter alia, a solid-state disk drive (SSDD), hard diskdrive (HDD), a micro HDD, resistance change memories, phase changememories, holographic memories, or chemical memories, among others. Forexample, the computer platform 700 may incorporate the three-dimensional(3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memories from Intel® and Micron®.

Removable memory circuitry 723 may include devices, circuitry,enclosures/housings, ports or receptacles, etc. used to couple portabledata storage devices with the platform 700. These portable data storagedevices may be used for mass storage purposes, and may include, forexample, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, microSDcards, xD picture cards, and the like), and USB flash drives, opticaldiscs, external HDDs, and the like.

The platform 700 may also include interface circuitry (not shown) thatis used to connect external devices with the platform 700. The externaldevices connected to the platform 700 via the interface circuitryinclude sensor circuitry 721 and electro-mechanical components (EMCs)722, as well as removable memory devices coupled to removable memorycircuitry 723.

The sensor circuitry 721 includes devices, modules, or subsystems whosepurpose is to detect events or changes in its environment and send theinformation (sensor data) about the detected events to some other adevice, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, interalia, inertia measurement units (IMUS) comprising accelerometers,gyroscopes, and/or magnetometers; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)or nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) comprising 3-axisaccelerometers, 3-axis gyroscopes, and/or magnetometers; level sensors;flow sensors; temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors); pressure sensors;barometric pressure sensors; gravimeters; altimeters; image capturedevices (e.g., cameras or lensless apertures); light detection andranging (LiDAR) sensors; proximity sensors (e.g., infrared radiationdetector and the like), depth sensors, ambient light sensors, ultrasonictransceivers; microphones or other like audio capture devices; etc.

EMCs 722 include devices, modules, or subsystems whose purpose is toenable platform 700 to change its state, position, and/or orientation,or move or control a mechanism or (sub)system. Additionally, EMCs 722may be configured to generate and send messages/signaling to othercomponents of the platform 700 to indicate a current state of the EMCs722. Examples of the EMCs 722 include one or more power switches, relaysincluding electromechanical relays (EMRs) and/or solid-state relays(SSRs), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), an audible soundgenerator, a visual warning device, motors (e.g., DC motors, steppermotors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks,and/or other like electro-mechanical components. In embodiments/aspects,platform 700 is configured to operate one or more EMCs 722 based on oneor more captured events and/or instructions or control signals receivedfrom a service provider and/or various clients.

In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect theplatform 700 with positioning circuitry 745. The positioning circuitry745 includes circuitry to receive and decode signalstransmitted/broadcasted by a positioning network of a GNSS. Examples ofnavigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include United States'GPS, Russia's GLONASS, the European Union's Galileo system, China'sBeiDou Navigation Satellite System, a regional navigation system or GNSSaugmentation system (e.g., NAVIC), Japan's QZSS, France's DORIS, etc.),or the like. The positioning circuitry 745 comprises various hardwareelements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters,amplifiers, antenna elements, and the like to facilitate OTAcommunications) to communicate with components of a positioning network,such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In someembodiments/aspects, the positioning circuitry 745 may include aMicro-PNT IC that uses a master timing clock to perform positiontracking/estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuitry745 may also be part of or interact with, the baseband circuitry 610and/or RFEMs 715 to communicate with the nodes and components of thepositioning network. The positioning circuitry 745 may also provideposition data and/or time data to the application circuitry 705, whichmay use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructure(e.g., radio base stations), for turn-by-turn navigation applications,or the like

In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect theplatform 700 with Near-Field Communication (NFC) circuitry 740. NFCcircuitry 740 is configured to provide contactless, short-rangecommunications based on radio frequency identification (RFID) standards,wherein magnetic field induction is used to enable communication betweenNFC circuitry 740 and NFC-enabled devices external to the platform 700(e.g., an “NFC touchpoint”). NFC circuitry 740 comprises an NFCcontroller coupled with an antenna element and a processor coupled withthe NFC controller. The NFC controller may be a chip/IC providing NFCfunctionalities to the NFC circuitry 740 by executing NFC controllerfirmware and an NFC stack. The processor to control the NFC controllermay execute the NFC stack, and the NFC controller to control the antennaelement to emit short-range RF signals may execute the NFC controllerfirmware. The RF signals may power a passive NFC tag (e.g., a microchipembedded in a sticker or wristband) to transmit stored data to the NFCcircuitry 740, or initiate data transfer between the NFC circuitry 740and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphone or an NFC-enabled POSterminal) that is proximate to the platform 700.

The driver circuitry 746 may include software and hardware elements thatoperate to control particular devices that are embedded in the platform700, attached to the platform 700, or otherwise communicatively coupledwith the platform 700. The driver circuitry 746 may include individualdrivers allowing other components of the platform 700 to interact withor control various input/output (I/O) devices that may be presentwithin, or connected to, the platform 700. For example, driver circuitry746 may include a display driver to control and allow access to adisplay device, a touchscreen driver to control and allow access to atouchscreen interface of the platform 700, sensor drivers to obtainsensor readings of sensor circuitry 721 and control and allow access tosensor circuitry 721, EMC drivers to obtain actuator positions of theEMCs 722 and/or control and allow access to the EMCs 722, a cameradriver to control and allow access to an embedded image capture device,audio drivers to control and allow access to one or more audio devices.

The power management integrated circuitry (PMIC) 725 (also referred toas “power management circuitry 725”) may manage power provided tovarious components of the platform 700. In particular, with respect tothe baseband circuitry 710, the PMIC 725 may control power-sourceselection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion.The PMIC 725 may often be included when the platform 700 is capable ofbeing powered by a battery 730, for example, when the device is includedin a UE 301, 302, 401.

In some embodiments/aspects, the PMIC 725 may control, or otherwise bepart of, various power-saving mechanisms of the platform 700. Forexample, if the platform 700 is in an RRC_Connected state, where it isstill connected to the RAN node as it expects to receive trafficshortly, then it may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode(DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the platform 700may power down for brief intervals of time and thus save power. If thereis no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, then theplatform 700 may transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where itdisconnects from the network and does not perform operations such aschannel quality feedback, handover, etc. The platform 700 goes into avery low power state, and it performs paging where again it periodicallywakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. Theplatform 700 may not receive data in this state; in order to receivedata, it must transition back to RRC_Connected state. An additionalpower-saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable to the networkfor periods longer than a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a fewhours). During this time, the device is unreachable to the network andmay power down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a largedelay, and it is assumed the delay is acceptable.

A battery 730 may power the platform 700, although, in some examples,the platform 700 may be mounted deployed in a fixed location and mayhave a power supply coupled to an electrical grid. The battery 730 maybe a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery, such as a zinc-airbattery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, and the like.In some implementations, such as in V2X applications, the battery 730may be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

In some implementations, the battery 730 may be a “smart battery,” whichincludes a Battery Management System (BMS) or battery monitoringintegrated circuitry. In some implementations, the battery 730 may becoupled with the BMS or the battery monitoring integrated circuitry. TheBMS may be included in the platform 700 to track the state of charge(SoCh) of the battery 730. The BMS may be used to monitor otherparameters of the battery 730 to provide failure predictions, such asthe state of health (SoH) and the state of function (SoF) of the battery730. The BMS may communicate the information of the battery 730 to theapplication circuitry 705 or other components of the platform 700. TheBMS may also include an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter that allowsthe application circuitry 705 to monitor the voltage of the battery 730or the current flow from the battery 730 directly. The batteryparameters may be used to determine actions that the platform 700 mayperform, such as transmission frequency, network operation, sensingfrequency, and the like.

A power block or other power supply coupled to an electrical grid may becoupled with the BMS to charge the battery 730. In some examples, thepower block may be replaced with a wireless power receiver to obtain thepower wirelessly, for example, through a loop antenna in the computerplatform 700. In these examples, a wireless battery charging circuit maybe included in the BMS. The specific charging circuits chosen may dependon the size of the battery 730, and thus, the current required. Thecharging may be performed using the Airfuel standard promulgated by theAirfuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standard promulgated by theWireless Power Consortium, or the Rezence charging standard promulgatedby the Alliance for Wireless Power, among others.

User interface circuitry 750 includes various input/output (I/O) devicespresent within, or connected to, the platform 700, and includes one ormore user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with theplatform 700 and/or peripheral component interfaces designed to enableperipheral component interaction with the platform 700. The userinterface circuitry 750 includes input device circuitry and outputdevice circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical orvirtual means for accepting an input including, inter alia, one or morephysical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard,keypad, mouse, touchpad, touchscreen, microphones, scanner, headset,and/or the like. The output device circuitry includes any physical orvirtual means for showing information or otherwise conveyinginformation, such as sensor readings, actuator position(s), or otherlike information. Output device circuitry may include any number and/orcombinations of audio or visual display, including, inter alia, one ormore simple visual outputs/indicators (e.g., binary status indicators(e.g., light-emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs,or more complex outputs such as display devices or touchscreens (e.g.,Liquid Chrystal Displays (LCD), LED displays, quantum dot displays,projectors, etc.), with the output of characters, graphics, multimediaobjects, and the like being generated or produced from the operation ofthe platform 700. The output device circuitry may also include speakersor other audio emitting devices, printer(s), and/or the like. In someembodiments/aspects, the sensor circuitry 721 may be used as the inputdevice circuitry (e.g., an image capture device, motion capture device,or the like) and one or more EMCs may be used as the output devicecircuitry (e.g., an actuator to provide haptic feedback or the like). Inanother example, NFC circuitry comprising an NFC controller coupled withan antenna element and a processing device may be included to readelectronic tags and/or connect with another NFC-enabled device.Peripheral component interfaces may include but are not limited to, anon-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power supplyinterface, etc.

Although not shown, the components of platform 700 may communicate withone another using a suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technology, whichmay include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCIx,PCIe, a Time-Trigger Protocol (TTP) system, a FlexRay system, or anynumber of other technologies. The bus/IX may be a proprietary bus/IX,for example, used in an SoC based system. Other bus/IX systems may beincluded, such as an I²C interface, an SPI interface, point-to-pointinterfaces, and a power bus, among others.

FIG. 8 illustrates the example components of baseband circuitry 810 andradio front end modules (RFEM) 815 in accordance with variousembodiments/aspects. The baseband circuitry 810 corresponds to thebaseband circuitry 610 and 710 of FIGS. 6 and 7, respectively. The RFEM815 corresponds to the RFEM 615 and 715 of FIGS. 6 and 7, respectively.As shown, the RFEMs 815 may include Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 806,front-end module (FEM) circuitry 808, antenna array 811 coupled togetherat least as shown.

The baseband circuitry 810 includes circuitry and/or control logicconfigured to carry out various radio/network protocol and radio controlfunctions that enable communication with one or more radio networks viathe RF circuitry 806. The radio control functions may include but arenot limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radiofrequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments/aspects,modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 810 mayinclude Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellationmapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments/aspects,encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 810 may includeconvolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low-DensityParity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments/aspectsof modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are notlimited to these examples and may include other suitable functionalityin other embodiments/aspects. The baseband circuitry 810 is configuredto process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of theRF circuitry 806 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signalpath of the RF circuitry 806. The baseband circuitry 810 is configuredto interface with application circuitry 605/705 (see FIGS. 6 and 7) forgeneration and processing of the baseband signals and for controllingoperations of the RF circuitry 806. The baseband circuitry 810 mayhandle various radio control functions.

The aforementioned circuitry and/or control logic of the basebandcircuitry 810 may include one or more single or multi-core processors.For example, the one or more processors may include a 3G basebandprocessor 804A, a 4G/LTE baseband processor 804B, a 5G/NR basebandprocessor 804C, or some other baseband processor(s) 804D for otherexisting generations, generations in development or to be developed inthe future (e.g., sixth-generation (6G), etc.). In otherembodiments/aspects, some or all of the functionality of basebandprocessors 804A-D may be included in modules stored in the memory 804Gand executed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 804E. In otherembodiments/aspects, some or all of the functionality of basebandprocessors 804A-D may be provided as hardware accelerators (e.g., FPGAs,ASICs, etc.) loaded with the appropriate bitstreams or logic blocksstored in respective memory cells. In various embodiments/aspects, thememory 804G may store program code of a real-time OS (RTOS), which whenexecuted by the CPU 804E (or other baseband processor), is to cause theCPU 804E (or another baseband processor) to manage resources of thebaseband circuitry 810, schedule tasks, etc. Examples of the RTOS mayinclude Operating System Embedded (OSE)™ provided by Enea®, NucleusRTOS™ provided by Mentor Graphics®, Versatile Real-Time Executive (VRTX)provided by Mentor Graphics®, ThreadX™ provided by Express Logic®,FreeRTOS, REX OS provided by Qualcomm®, OKL4 provided by Open Kernel(OK) Labs®, or any other suitable RTOS, such as those discussed herein.In addition, the baseband circuitry 810 includes one or more audiodigital signal processor(s) (DSP) 804F. The audio DSP(s) 804F includeelements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and mayinclude other suitable processing elements in other embodiments/aspects.

In some embodiments/aspects, each of the processors 804A-804E includerespective memory interfaces to send/receive data to/from the memory804G. The baseband circuitry 810 may further include one or moreinterfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, suchas an interface to send/receive data to/from a memory external to thebaseband circuitry 810, an application circuitry interface tosend/receive data to/from the application circuitry 605/705 of FIGS.6-8); an RF circuitry interface to send/receive data to/from RFcircuitry 806 of FIG. 8; a wireless hardware connectivity interface tosend/receive data to/from one or more wireless hardware elements (e.g.,Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth®/Bluetooth® LowEnergy components, Wi-Fi® components, and/or the like); and a powermanagement interface to send/receive power or control signals to/fromthe PMIC 725.

In alternate embodiments/aspects (which may be combined with theabove-described embodiments/aspects), baseband circuitry 810 comprisesone or more digital baseband systems, which are coupled with one anothervia an interconnect subsystem and to a CPU subsystem, an audiosubsystem, and an interface subsystem. The digital baseband subsystemsmay also be coupled to a digital baseband interface, and a mixed-signalbaseband subsystem via another interconnect subsystem. Each of theinterconnect subsystems may include a bus system, point-to-pointconnections, network-on-chip (NOC) structures, and/or some othersuitable bus or interconnect technology, such as those discussed herein.The audio subsystem may include DSP circuitry, buffer memory, programmemory, speech processing accelerator circuitry, data convertercircuitry such as analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog convertercircuitry, analog circuitry including one or more of amplifiers andfilters, and/or other like components. In an aspect of the presentdisclosure, baseband circuitry 810 may include protocol processingcircuitry with one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) toprovide control functions for the digital baseband circuitry and/orradiofrequency circuitry (e.g., the radio front end modules 815).

Although not shown by FIG. 8, in some embodiments/aspects, the basebandcircuitry 810 includes individual processing device(s) to operate one ormore wireless communication protocols (e.g., a “multi-protocol basebandprocessor” or “protocol processing circuitry”) and individual processingdevice(s) to implement PHY layer functions. In theseembodiments/aspects, the PHY layer functions include the aforementionedradio control functions. In these embodiments/aspects, the protocolprocessing circuitry operates or implements various protocollayers/entities of one or more wireless communication protocols. In afirst example, the protocol processing circuitry may operate LTEprotocol entities and/or 5G/NR protocol entities when the basebandcircuitry 810 and/or RF circuitry 806 are part of mmWave communicationcircuitry or some other suitable cellular communication circuitry. Inthe first example, the protocol processing circuitry would operate MAC,RLC, PDCP, SDAP, RRC, and NAS functions. In a second example, theprotocol processing circuitry may operate one or more IEEE-basedprotocols when the baseband circuitry 810 and/or RF circuitry 806 arepart of a Wi-Fi communication system. In the second example, theprotocol processing circuitry would operate Wi-Fi MAC and logical linkcontrol (LLC) functions. The protocol processing circuitry may includeone or more memory structures (e.g., 804G) to store program code anddata for operating the protocol functions, as well as one or moreprocessing cores to execute the program code and perform variousoperations using the data. The baseband circuitry 810 may also supportradio communications for more than one wireless protocol.

The various hardware elements of the baseband circuitry 810 discussedherein may be implemented, for example, as a solder-down substrate,including one or more integrated circuits (ICs), a single packaged ICsoldered to the main circuit board or a multi-chip module containing twoor more ICs. In one example, the components of the baseband circuitry810 may be suitably combined in a single chip or chipset or disposed onthe same circuit board. In another example, some or all of theconstituent components of the baseband circuitry 810 and RF circuitry806 may be implemented together, such as, for example, a system on achip (SoC) or System-in-Package (SiP). In another example, some or allof the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 810 may beimplemented as a separate SoC that is communicatively coupled with andRF circuitry 806 (or multiple instances of RF circuitry 806). In yetanother example, some or all of the constituent components of thebaseband circuitry 810 and the application circuitry 605/705 may beimplemented together as individual SoCs mounted to the same circuitboard (e.g., a “multi-chip package”).

In some embodiments/aspects, the baseband circuitry 810 may provide forcommunication compatible with one or more radio technologies. Forexample, in some embodiments/aspects, the baseband circuitry 810 maysupport communication with an E-UTRAN or other WMAN, a WLAN, a WPAN.Embodiments/aspects in which the baseband circuitry 810 is configured tosupport radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may bereferred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 806 may enable communication with wireless networks usingmodulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. Invarious embodiments/aspects, the RF circuitry 806 may include switches,filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communication with the wirelessnetwork. RF circuitry 806 may include a receive signal path, which mayinclude circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEMcircuitry 808 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry810. RF circuitry 806 may also include a transmit signal path, which mayinclude circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by thebaseband circuitry 810 and provide RF output signals to the FEMcircuitry 808 for transmission.

In some embodiments/aspects, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry806 may include mixer circuitry 806 a, amplifier circuitry 806 b, andfilter circuitry 806 c. In some embodiments/aspects, the transmit signalpath of the RF circuitry 806 may include filter circuitry 806 c andmixer circuitry 806 a. RF circuitry 806 may also include synthesizercircuitry 806 d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixercircuitry 806 a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path.In some embodiments/aspects, the mixer circuitry 806 a of the receivesignal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received fromthe FEM circuitry 808 based on the synthesized frequency provided bysynthesizer circuitry 806 d. The amplifier circuitry 806 b may beconfigured to amplify the down-converted signals, and the filtercircuitry 806 c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF)configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals togenerate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may beprovided to the baseband circuitry 810 for further processing. In someembodiments/aspects, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequencybaseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In someembodiments/aspects, mixer circuitry 806 a of the receive signal pathmay comprise passive mixers, although the scope of theembodiments/aspects is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments/aspects, the mixer circuitry 806 a of the transmitsignal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals basedon the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 806 dto generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 808. The basebandsignals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 810 and may befiltered by filter circuitry 806 c.

In some embodiments/aspects, the mixer circuitry 806 a of the receivesignal path and the mixer circuitry 806 a of the transmit signal pathmay include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadraturedownconversion and upconversion, respectively. In someembodiments/aspects, the mixer circuitry 806 a of the receive signalpath and the mixer circuitry 806 a of the transmit signal path mayinclude two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection(e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments/aspects, the mixercircuitry 806 a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 806 aof the transmit signal path may be arranged for direct downconversionand direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments/aspects, themixer circuitry 806 a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry806 a of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyneoperation.

In some embodiments/aspects, the output baseband signals and the inputbaseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope ofthe embodiments/aspects is not limited in this respect. In somealternate embodiments/aspects, the output baseband signals and the inputbaseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In these alternateembodiments/aspects, the RF circuitry 806 may include ananalog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC)circuitry and the baseband circuitry 810 may include a digital basebandinterface to communicate with the RF circuitry 806.

In some dual-mode embodiments/aspects, a separate radio IC circuitry maybe provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scopeof the embodiments/aspects is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments/aspects, the synthesizer circuitry 806 d may be afractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although thescope of the embodiments/aspects is not limited in this respect as othertypes of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example,synthesizer circuitry 806 d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, afrequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loopwith a frequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 806 d may be configured to synthesize anoutput frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 806 a of the RFcircuitry 806 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. Insome embodiments/aspects, the synthesizer circuitry 806 d may be afractional N/N+1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments/aspects, a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) mayprovide frequency input, although that is not a requirement. The dividercontrol input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 810 orthe application circuitry 605/705, depending on the desired outputfrequency. In some embodiments/aspects, a divider control input (e.g.,N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicatedby the application circuitry 605/705.

Synthesizer circuitry 806 d of the RF circuitry 806 may include adivider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phaseaccumulator. In some embodiments/aspects, the divider may be a dualmodulus divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phaseaccumulator (DPA). In some embodiments/aspects, the DMD may beconfigured to divide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based ona carryout) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some exampleembodiments/aspects, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable,delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a D-type flip-flop.In these embodiments/aspects, the delay elements may be configured tobreak a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is thenumber of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLLprovides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay throughthe delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments/aspects, synthesizer circuitry 806 d may beconfigured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency,while in other embodiments/aspects, the output frequency may be amultiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency,four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction withquadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signalsat the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect toeach other. In some embodiments/aspects, the output frequency may be aLO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments/aspects, the RF circuitry 806may include an IQ/polar converter.

FEM circuitry 808 may include a receive signal path, which may includecircuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from antennaarray 811, amplify the received signals and provide the amplifiedversions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 806 for furtherprocessing. FEM circuitry 808 may also include a transmit signal path,which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals fortransmission provided by the RF circuitry 806 for transmission by one ormore of antenna elements of antenna array 811. In variousembodiments/aspects, the amplification through the transmit or receivesignal paths may be done solely in the RF circuitry 806, solely in theFEM circuitry 808, or in both the RF circuitry 806 and the FEM circuitry808.

In some embodiments/aspects, the FEM circuitry 808 may include a TX/RXswitch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. TheFEM circuitry 808 may include a receive signal path and a transmitsignal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 808 mayinclude an LNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplifiedreceived RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 806). Thetransmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 808 may include a poweramplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RFcircuitry 806), and one or more filters to generate RF signals forsubsequent transmission by one or more antenna elements of the antennaarray 811.

The antenna array 811 comprises one or more antenna elements, each ofwhich is configured convert electrical signals into radio waves totravel through the air and to convert received radio waves intoelectrical signals. For example, digital baseband signals provided bythe baseband circuitry 810 is converted into analog RF signals (e.g.,modulated waveform) that will be amplified and transmitted via theantenna elements of the antenna array 811 including one or more antennaelements (not shown). The antenna elements may be omnidirectional,direction, or a combination thereof. The antenna elements may be formedin a multitude of arranges, as known and/or discussed herein. Theantenna array 811 may comprise microstrip antennas or printed antennasthat are fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuitboards. The antenna array 811 may be formed in as a patch of metal foil(e.g., a patch antenna) in a variety of shapes, and may be coupled withthe RF circuitry 806 and/or FEM circuitry 808 using metal transmissionlines or the like.

Processors of the application circuitry 605/705 and processors of thebaseband circuitry 810 may be used to execute elements of one or moreinstances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the basebandcircuitry 810, alone or in combination, may be used execute Layer 3,Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the applicationcircuitry 605/705 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received fromthese layers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., TCP andUDP layers). As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise an RRC layer,described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 2 maycomprise a MAC layer, an RLC layer, and a PDCP layer, described infurther detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1 may comprise a PHYlayer of a UE/RAN node, described in further detail below.

FIG. 9 illustrates various protocol functions that may be implemented ina wireless communication device according to variousembodiments/aspects. In particular, FIG. 9 includes an arrangement 900showing interconnections between various protocol layers/entities. Thefollowing description of FIG. 9 is provided for various protocollayers/entities that operate in conjunction with the 5G/NR systemstandards and LTE system standards, but some or all of the aspects ofFIG. 9 may be applicable to other wireless communication network systemsas well.

The protocol layers of arrangement 900 may include one or more of PHY910, MAC 920, RLC 930, PDCP 940, SDAP 947, RRC 955, and NAS layer 957,in addition to other higher-layer functions not illustrated. Theprotocol layers may include one or more service access points (e.g.,items 959, 956, 950, 949, 945, 935, 925, and 915 in FIG. 9) that mayprovide communication between two or more protocol layers.

The PHY 910 may transmit and receive physical layer signals 905 that maybe received from or transmitted to one or more other communicationdevices. The physical layer signals 905 may comprise one or morephysical channels, such as those discussed herein. The PHY 910 mayfurther perform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC),power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization andhandover purposes), and other measurements used by higher layers, suchas the RRC 955. The PHY 910 may still further perform error detection onthe transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding/decodingof the transport channels, modulation/demodulation of physical channels,interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, and MIMOantenna processing. In embodiments/aspects, an instance of PHY 910 mayprocess requests from and provide indications to an instance of MAC 920via one or more PHY-SAP 915. According to some embodiments/aspects,requests, and indications communicated via PHY-SAP 915 may comprise oneor more transport channels.

Instance(s) of MAC 920 may process requests from and provide indicationsto, an instance of RLC 930 via one or more MAC-SAPs 925. These requestsand indications communicated via the MAC-SAP 925 may comprise one ormore logical channels. The MAC 920 may perform mapping between thelogical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs fromone or more logical channels onto TBs to be delivered to PHY 910 via thetransport channels, de-multiplexing MAC SDUs to one or more logicalchannels from TBs delivered from the PHY 910 via transport channels,multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, scheduling information reporting, errorcorrection through HARQ, and logical channel prioritization.

Instance(s) of RLC 930 may process requests from and provide indicationsto an instance of PDCP 940 via one or more radio link control serviceaccess points (RLC-SAP) 935. These requests and indications communicatedvia RLC-SAP 935 may comprise one or more RLC channels. The RLC 930 mayoperate in a plurality of modes of operation, including TransparentMode™, Unacknowledged Mode (UM), and Acknowledged Mode (AM). The RLC 930may execute the transfer of upper layer protocol data units (PDUs),error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ) for AM datatransfers, and concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUsfor UM and AM data transfers. The RLC 930 may also executere-segmentation of RLC data PDUs for AM data transfers, reorder RLC dataPDUs for UM and AM data transfers, detect duplicate data for UM and AMdata transfers, discard RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transfers, detectprotocol errors for AM data transfers, and perform RLC re-establishment.

Instance(s) of PDCP 940 may process requests from and provideindications to instance(s) of RRC 955 and/or instance(s) of SDAP 947 viaone or more packet data convergence protocol service access points(PDCP-SAP) 945. These requests and indications communicated via PDCP-SAP945 may comprise one or more radio bearers. The PDCP 940 may executeheader compression and decompression of IP data, maintain PDCP SequenceNumbers (SNs), perform in-sequence delivery of upper layer PDUs atre-establishment of lower layers, eliminate duplicates of lower layerSDUs at re-establishment of lower layers for radio bearers mapped on RLCAM, cipher and decipher control plane data, perform integrity protectionand integrity verification of control plane data, control timer-baseddiscard of data, and perform security operations (e.g., ciphering,deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification, etc.).

Instance(s) of SDAP 947 may process requests from and provideindications to one or more higher layer protocol entities via one ormore SDAP-SAP 949. These requests and indications communicated viaSDAP-SAP 949 may comprise one or more QoS flows. The SDAP 947 may mapQoS flows to DRBs, and vice versa, and may mark QFIs in DL and ULpackets. A single SDAP entity 947 may be configured for an individualPDU session. In the UL direction, the NG-RAN 310 may control the mappingof QoS Flows to DRB(s) in two different ways, reflective mapping orexplicit mapping. For reflective mapping, the SDAP 947 of a UE 301 maymonitor the QFIs of the DL packets for each DRB and may apply the samemapping for packets flowing in the UL direction. For a DRB, the SDAP 947of the UE 301 may map the UL packets belonging to the QoS flows(s)corresponding to the QoS flow ID(s) and PDU session observed in the DLpackets for that DRB. To enable reflective mapping, the NG-RAN 510 maymark DL packets over the Uu interface with a QoS flow ID. The explicitmapping may involve the RRC 955 configuring the SDAP 947 with anexplicit QoS flow to DRB mapping rule, which may be stored and followedby the SDAP 947. In embodiments/aspects, the SDAP 947 may only be usedin NR implementations and may not be used in LTE implementations.

The RRC 955 may configure, via one or more management service accesspoints (M-SAP), aspects of one or more protocol layers, which mayinclude one or more instances of PHY 910, MAC 920, RLC 930, PDCP 940 andSDAP 947. In embodiments/aspects, an instance of RRC 955 may processrequests from and provide indications to one or more NAS entities 957via one or more RRC-SAPs 956. The main services and functions of the RRC955 may include broadcast of system information (e.g., included in MIBsor SIBs related to the NAS), broadcast of system information related tothe access stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenance and releaseof an RRC connection between the UE 301 and RAN 310 (e.g., RRCconnection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connectionmodification, and RRC connection release), establishment, configuration,maintenance and release of point to point Radio Bearers, securityfunctions including key management, inter-RAT mobility, and measurementconfiguration for UE measurement reporting. The MIBs and SIBs maycomprise one or more IEs, which may each comprise individual data fieldsor data structures.

The NAS 957 may form the highest stratum of the control plane betweenthe UE 301 and the AMF 521. The NAS 957 may support the mobility of theUEs 301 and the session management procedures to establish and maintainIP connectivity between the UE 301 and a P-GW in LTE systems.

According to various embodiments/aspects, one or more protocol entitiesof arrangement 900 may be implemented in UEs 301, RAN nodes 311, AMF 521in NR implementations or MME 421 in LTE implementations, UPF 502 in NRimplementations or S-GW 422 and P-GW 423 in LTE implementations, or thelike to be used for control plane or user plane communications protocolstack between the aforementioned devices. In such embodiments/aspects,one or more protocol entities that may be implemented in one or more ofUE 301, gNB 311, AMF 521, etc. may communicate with a respective peerprotocol entity that may be implemented in or on another device usingthe services of respective lower layer protocol entities to perform suchcommunication. In some embodiments/aspects, a gNB-CU of the gNB 311 mayhost the RRC 955, SDAP 947, and PDCP 940 of the gNB that controls theoperation of one or more gNB-DUs, and the gNB-DUs of the gNB 311 mayeach host the RLC 930, MAC 920, and PHY 910 of the gNB 311.

In a first example, a control plane protocol stack may comprise, inorder from the highest layer to lowest layer, NAS 957, RRC 955, PDCP940, RLC 930, MAC 920, and PHY 910. In this example, upper layers 960may be built on top of the NAS 957, which includes an IP layer 961, anSCTP 962, and an application layer signaling protocol (AP) 963.

In NR implementations, the AP 963 may be an NG application protocollayer (NGAP or NG-AP) 963 for the NG interface 313 defined between theNG-RAN node 311 and the AMF 521, or the AP 963 may be an Xn applicationprotocol layer (XnAP or Xn-AP) 963 for the Xn interface 312 that isdefined between two or more RAN nodes 311.

The NG-AP 963 may support the functions of the NG interface 313 and maycomprise Elementary Procedures (EPs). An NG-AP EP may be a unit ofinteraction between the NG-RAN node 311 and the AMF 521. The NG-AP 963services may comprise two groups: UE-associated services (e.g., servicesrelated to a UE 301, 302) and non-UE-associated services (e.g., servicesrelated to the whole NG interface instance between the NG-RAN node 311and AMF 521). These services may include functions including, but notlimited to: a paging function for the sending of paging requests toNG-RAN nodes 311 involved in a particular paging area; a UE contextmanagement function for allowing the AMF 521 to establish, modify,and/or release a UE context in the AMF 521 and the NG-RAN node 311; amobility function for UEs 301 in ECM-CONNECTED mode for intra-system HOsto support mobility within NG-RAN and inter-system HOs to supportmobility from/to EPS systems; a NAS Signaling Transport function fortransporting or rerouting NAS messages between UE 301 and AMF 521; a NASnode selection function for determining an association between the AMF521 and the UE 301; NG interface management function(s) for setting upthe NG interface and monitoring for errors over the NG interface; awarning message transmission function for providing means to transferwarning messages via NG interface or cancel ongoing broadcast of warningmessages; a Configuration Transfer function for requesting andtransferring of RAN configuration information (e.g., SON information,performance measurement (PM) data, etc.) between two RAN nodes 311 viaCN 320; and/or other like functions.

The XnAP 963 may support the functions of the Xn interface 312 and maycomprise XnAP basic mobility procedures and XnAP global procedures. TheXnAP basic mobility procedures may comprise procedures used to handle UEmobility within the NG RAN 311 (or E-UTRAN 410), such as handoverpreparation and cancellation procedures, SN Status Transfer procedures,UE context retrieval, and UE context release procedures, RAN pagingprocedures, dual connectivity related procedures, and the like. The XnAPglobal procedures may comprise procedures that are not related to aspecific UE 301, such as Xn interface setup and reset procedures, NG-RANupdate procedures, cell activation procedures, and the like.

In LTE implementations, the AP 963 may be an S1 Application Protocollayer (S1-AP) 963 for the S1 interface 313 defined between an E-UTRANnode 311 and an MME, or the AP 963 may be an X2 application protocollayer (X2AP or X2-AP) 963 for the X2 interface 312 that is definedbetween two or more E-UTRAN nodes 311.

The S1 Application Protocol layer (S1-AP) 963 may support the functionsof the S1 interface, and similar to the NG-AP discussed previously, andthe S1-AP may comprise S1-AP EPs. An S1-AP EP may be a unit ofinteraction between the E-UTRAN node 311 and an MME 421 within an LTE CN320. The S1-AP 963 services may comprise two groups: UE-associatedservices and non-UE-associated services. These services performfunctions including, but not limited to, E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer(E-RAB) management, UE capability indication, mobility, NAS signalingtransport, RAN Information Management (RIM), and configuration transfer.

The X2AP 963 may support the functions of the X2 interface 312 and maycomprise X2AP basic mobility procedures and X2AP global procedures. TheX2AP basic mobility procedures may comprise procedures used to handle UEmobility within the E-UTRAN 320, such as handover preparation andcancellation procedures, SN Status Transfer procedures, UE contextretrieval, and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures,dual connectivity related procedures, and the like. The X2AP globalprocedures may comprise procedures that are not related to a specific UE301, such as X2 interface setup and reset procedures, load indicationprocedures, error indication procedures, cell activation procedures, andthe like.

The SCTP layer (alternatively referred to as the SCTP/IP layer) 962 mayprovide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages (e.g., NGAP orXnAP messages in NR implementations, or S1-AP or X2AP messages in LTEimplementations). The SCTP 962 may ensure reliable delivery of signalingmessages between the RAN node 311 and the AMF 521/MME 421 based, inpart, on the IP protocol, supported by the IP 961. The Internet Protocollayer (IP) 961 may be used to perform packet addressing and routingfunctionality. In some implementations, the IP layer 961 may use thepoint-to-point transmission to deliver and convey PDUs. In this regard,the RAN node 311 may comprise L2 and L1 layer communication links (e.g.,wired or wireless) with the MME/AMF to exchange information.

In a second example, a user plane protocol stack may comprise, in orderfrom the highest layer to lowest layer, SDAP 947, PDCP 940, RLC 930, MAC920, and PHY 910. The user plane protocol stack may be used forcommunication between the UE 301, the RAN node 311, and UPF 502 in NRimplementations or an S-GW 422 and P-GW 423 in LTE implementations. Inthis example, upper layers 951 may be built on top of the SDAP 947, andmay include a user datagram protocol (UDP) and IP security layer(UDP/IP) 952, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocolfor the user plane layer (GTP-U) 953, and a User Plane PDU layer (UPPDU) 963.

The transport network layer 954 (also referred to as a “transportlayer”) may be built on IP transport, and the GTP-U 953 may be used ontop of the UDP/IP layer 952 (comprising a UDP layer and IP layer) tocarry user plane PDUs (UP-PDUs). The IP layer (also referred to as the“Internet layer”) may be used to perform packet addressing and routingfunctionality. The IP layer may assign IP addresses to user data packetsin any of IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats, for example.

The GTP-U 953 may be used for carrying user data within the GPRS corenetwork and between the radio access network and the core network. Theuser data transported can be packets in any of IPv4, IPv6, or PPPformats, for example. The UDP/IP 952 may provide checksums for dataintegrity, port numbers for addressing different functions at the sourceand destination, and encryption and authentication on the selected dataflow. The RAN node 311 and the S-GW 422 may utilize an S1-U interface toexchange user plane data via a protocol stack comprising an L1 layer(e.g., PHY 910), an L2 layer (e.g., MAC 920, RLC 930, PDCP 940, and/orSDAP 947), the UDP/IP layer 952, and the GTP-U 953. The S-GW 422 and theP-GW 423 may utilize an S5/S8a interface to exchange user plane data viaa protocol stack comprising an L1 layer, an L2 layer, the UDP/IP layer952, and the GTP-U 953. As discussed previously, NAS protocols maysupport the mobility of the UE 301 and the session management proceduresto establish and maintain IP connectivity between the UE 301 and theP-GW 423.

Moreover, although not shown in FIG. 9, an application layer may bepresent above the AP 963 and/or the transport network layer 954. Theapplication layer may be a layer in which a user of the UE 301, RAN node311, or other network element interacts with software applications beingexecuted, for example, by application circuitry 605 or applicationcircuitry 705, respectively. The application layer may also provide oneor more interfaces for software applications to interact withcommunications systems of the UE 301 or RAN node 311, such as thebaseband circuitry 810. In some implementations, the IP layer and/or theapplication layer may provide the same or similar functionality aslayers 5-7, or portions thereof, of the Open Systems Interconnection(OSI) model (e.g., OSI Layer 7—the application layer, OSI Layer 6—thepresentation layer, and OSI Layer 5—the session layer).

FIG. 10 illustrates components of a core network in accordance withvarious embodiments/aspects. The components of the CN 420 may beimplemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes, includingcomponents to read and execute instructions from a machine-readable orcomputer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium). In embodiments/aspects, the components of CN 520 may beimplemented in the same or similar manner as discussed herein withregard to the components of CN 420. In some embodiments/aspects, NFV isutilized to virtualize any or all of the above-described network nodefunctions via executable instructions stored in one or morecomputer-readable storage mediums (described in further detail below). Alogical instantiation of the CN 420 may be referred to as a networkslice 1101, and individual logical instantiations of the CN 420 mayprovide specific network capabilities and network characteristics. Alogical instantiation of a portion of the CN 420 may be referred to as anetwork sub-slice 1102 (e.g., the network sub-slice 1102 is shown toinclude the P-GW 423 and the PCRF 426).

As used herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the likemay refer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer toa concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringthe execution of program code. A network instance may refer toinformation identifying a domain, which may be used for trafficdetection and routing in case of different IP domains or overlapping IPaddresses. A network slice instance may refer to a set of networkfunctions (NFs) instances and the resources (e.g., compute, storage, andnetworking resources) required to deploy the network slice.

With respect to 5G systems (see, e.g., FIG. 5), a network slice alwayscomprises a RAN part and a CN part. The support of network slicingrelies on the principle that traffic for different slices is handled bydifferent PDU sessions. The network can realize the different networkslices by scheduling and also by providing different L1/L2configurations. The UE 501 provides assistance information for networkslice selection in an appropriate RRC message if it has been provided byNAS. While the network can support a large number of slices, the UE neednot support more than 8 slices simultaneously.

A network slice may include the CN 520 control plane and user plane NFs,NG-RANs 510 in a serving PLMN, and N3IWF functions in the serving PLMN.Individual network slices may have different S-NSSAI and/or may havedifferent SSTs. NSSAI includes one or more S-NSSAIs, and each networkslice is uniquely identified by an S-NSSAI. Network slices may differfor supported features, and network functions optimizations, and/ormultiple network slice instances may deliver the same service/featuresbut for different groups of UEs 501 (e.g., enterprise users). Forexample, individual network slices may deliver different committedservice(s) and/or maybe dedicated to a particular customer orenterprise. In this example, each network slice may have differentS-NSSAIs with the same SST but with different slice differentiators.Additionally, a single UE may be served with one or more network sliceinstances simultaneously via a 5G AN and associated eight differentS-NSSAIs. Moreover, an AMF 521 instance serving an individual UE 501 maybelong to each of the network slice instances serving that UE.

Network Slicing in the NG-RAN 510 involves RAN slice awareness. RANslice awareness includes differentiated handling of traffic fordifferent network slices, which have been pre-configured. Sliceawareness in the NG-RAN 510 is introduced at the PDU session-level byindicating the S-NSSAI corresponding to a PDU session in all signalingthat includes PDU session resource information. How the NG-RAN 510supports the slice enabling in terms of NG-RAN functions (e.g., the setof network functions that comprise each slice) isimplementation-dependent. The NG-RAN 510 selects the RAN part of thenetwork slice using assistance information provided by the UE 501 or the5GC 520, which unambiguously identifies one or more of thepre-configured network slices in the PLMN. The NG-RAN 510 also supportsresource management and policy enforcement between slices as per SLAs. Asingle NG-RAN node may support multiple slices, and the NG-RAN 510 mayalso apply an appropriate RRM policy for the SLA in place to eachsupported slice. The NG-RAN 510 may also support QoS differentiationwithin a slice.

The NG-RAN 510 may also use the UE assistance information for theselection of an AMF 521 during an initial attach, if available. TheNG-RAN 510 uses the assistance information for routing the initial NASto an AMF 521. If the NG-RAN 510 is unable to select an AMF 521 usingthe assistance information, or the UE 501 does not provide any suchinformation, the NG-RAN 510 sends the NAS signaling to a default AMF521, which may be among a pool of AMFs 521. For subsequent accesses, theUE 501 provides a temp ID, which is assigned to the UE 501 by the 5GC520, to enable the NG-RAN 510 to route the NAS message to theappropriate AMF 521 as long as the temp ID is valid. The NG-RAN 510 isaware of and can reach, the AMF 521 that is associated with the temp ID.Otherwise, the method for initial attach applies.

The NG-RAN 510 supports resource isolation between slices. NG-RAN 510resource isolation may be achieved by means of RRM policies andprotection mechanisms that should avoid that shortage of sharedresources if one slice breaks the service level agreement for anotherslice. In some implementations, it is possible to dedicate NG-RAN 510resources fully to a certain slice. How NG-RAN 510 supports resourceisolation is implementation-dependent.

Some slices may be available only in part of the network. Awareness inthe NG-RAN 510 of the slices supported in the cells of its neighbors maybe beneficial for inter-frequency mobility in connected mode. The sliceavailability may not change within the UE's registration area. TheNG-RAN 510 and the 5GC 520 are responsible for handling a servicerequest for a slice that may or may not be available in a given area.Admission or rejection of access to a slice may depend on factors suchas support for the slice, availability of resources, support of therequested service by NG-RAN 510.

The UE 501 may be associated with multiple network slicessimultaneously. In case the UE 501 is associated with multiple slicessimultaneously, only one signaling connection is maintained, and forintra-frequency cell reselection, the UE 501 tries to camp on the bestcell. For inter-frequency cell reselection, dedicated priorities can beused to control the frequency on which the UE 501 camps. The 5GC 520 isto validate that the UE 501 has the rights to access a network slice.Prior to receiving an Initial Context Setup Request message, the NG-RAN510 may be allowed to apply some provisional/local policies, based onawareness of a particular slice that the UE 501 is requesting to access.During the initial context setup, the NG-RAN 510 is informed of theslice for which resources are being requested.

NFV architectures and infrastructures may be used to virtualize one ormore NFs, alternatively performed by proprietary hardware, onto physicalresources comprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware,storage hardware, or switches. In other words, NFV systems can be usedto execute virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one or more EPCcomponents/functions.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments/aspects, of a system 1100 to support NFV. The system1100 is illustrated as including a VIM 1102, an NFVI 1104, a VNFM 1106,VNFs 1108, an EM 1110, an NFVO 1112, and an NM 1114.

The VIM 1102 manages the resources of the NFVI 1104. The NFVI 1104 caninclude physical or virtual resources and applications (includinghypervisors) used to execute the system 1100. The VIM 1102 may managethe life cycle of virtual resources with the NFVI 1104 (e.g., creation,maintenance, and tear down of VMs associated with one or more physicalresources), track VM instances, track performance, fault and security ofVM instances and associated physical resources, and expose VM instancesand associated physical resources to other management systems.

The VNFM 1106 may manage the VNFs 1108. The VNFs 1108 may be used toexecute EPC components/functions. The VNFM 1106 may manage the lifecycle of the VNFs 1108 and track performance, fault, and security of thevirtual aspects of VNFs 1108. The EM 1110 may track the performance,fault, and security of the functional aspects of VNFs 1108. The trackingdata from the VNFM 1106 and the EM 1110 may comprise, for example, PMdata used by the VIM 1102 or the NFVI 1104. Both the VNFM 1106 and theEM 1110 can scale up/down the quantity of VNFs of the system 1100.

The NFVO 1112 may coordinate, authorize, release, and engage resourcesof the NFVI 1104 in order to provide the requested service (e.g., toexecute an EPC function, component, or slice). The NM 1114 may provide apackage of end-user functions with the responsibility for the managementof a network, which may include network elements with VNFs,non-virtualized network functions, or both (management of the VNFs mayoccur via the EM 1110).

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments/aspects, able to read instructions from amachine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein. Specifically, FIG. 12 shows adiagrammatic representation of hardware resources 1200, including one ormore processors (or processor cores) 1210, one or more memory/storagedevices 1220, and one or more communication resources 1230, each ofwhich may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1240. Forembodiments/aspects where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, ahypervisor 1202 may be executed to provide an execution environment forone or more network slices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources1200.

The processors 1210 may include, for example, a processor 1212 and aprocessor 1214. The processor(s) 1210 may be, for example, a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC)processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, agraphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, anASIC, an FPGA, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), anotherprocessor (including those discussed herein), or any suitablecombination thereof.

The memory/storage devices 1220 may include a main memory, disk storage,or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 1220 mayinclude but are not limited to, any type of volatile or nonvolatilememory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random accessmemory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flashmemory, solid-state storage, etc.

The communication resources 1230 may include interconnection or networkinterface components or other suitable devices to communicate with oneor more peripheral devices 1204 or one or more databases 1206 via anetwork 1208. For example, the communication resources 1230 may includewired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB), cellularcommunication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® LowEnergy) components, Wi-Fi® components, and other communicationcomponents.

Instructions 1250 may comprise software, a program, an application, anapplet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of theprocessors 1210 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. The instructions 1250 may reside, completely orpartially, within at least one of the processors 1210 (e.g., within theprocessor's cache memory), the memory/storage devices 1220, or anysuitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of theinstructions 1250 may be transferred to the hardware resources 1200 fromany combination of the peripheral devices 1204 or the databases 1206.Accordingly, the memory of processors 1210, the memory/storage devices1220, the peripheral devices 1204, and the databases 1206 are examplesof computer-readable and machine-readable media.

Examples

The examples set forth herein are illustrative and not exhaustive.

Example 1 may include the method of NR Positioning, wherein NR DL PRS BWis configurable.

Example 2 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein NR DL PRS BW is configurable, where the configurationcomprises:

-   -   configurable NR DL PRS resources are independent of NR DL BWPs        used for communication;    -   dedicated DL BWP specifically introduced for NR DL PRS        transmission; and/or    -   configurable NR DL PRS as one of the configured DL BWPs.

Example 3 may include the Configured NR DL PRS BW method of example 2 orsome other example herein, wherein NR DL PRS resources are configuredindependently from NR DL BWPs used for communication, which comprises:

-   -   configurable PRB level granularity for NR DL PRS bandwidth        definition;    -   configurable numerology for NR DL PRS BW; and/or    -   configurable subcarrier spacing for NR DL PRS BW.

Example 4 may include the method of example 2 or some other exampleherein, wherein NR DL PRS resources are configured independently from NRDL BWPs used for communication, the configured DL PRS resources can bepartially overlapped with defined DL BWP(s).

Example 5 may include the method of example 3 or some other exampleherein, wherein NR DL PRS BW configuration supports configurable PRBgranularity level, numerology, and subcarrier spacing, uses the same ordifferent numerology and subcarrier spacing as DL BWP in case of nooverlapping with DL BWP configuration.

Example 6 may include the method of example 3 or some other exampleherein, wherein NR DL PRS BW configuration supports configurable PRBgranularity level, numerology, and subcarrier spacing, uses the samenumerology and subcarrier spacing as DL BWP in case of overlapping withDL BWP configuration.

Example 7 may include the method of example 3 or some other exampleherein, wherein NR DL PRS BW configuration supports configurable PRBgranularity level, numerology, and subcarrier spacing, is configured byhigher layers which is one or a combination of the following options:

-   -   NR remaining minimum system information (RMSI);    -   NR other system information (OSI);    -   Dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling; and/or    -   LPP signaling protocol.

Example 8 may include the method of example 2 or some other exampleherein, wherein NR DL PRS resources are configured independently from NRDL BWPs used for communication, the UE is expected to process followingalternatives:

-   -   DL PRS transmission according to the BW of the active BWP.    -   DL PRS, according to the configured DL PRS transmission BW.

Example 9 may include the method of example 2 or some other exampleherein, wherein a dedicated DL BWP specifically introduced for NR DL PRStransmission, a dedicated BWP is configured by higher layers which isone or a combination of following options:

-   -   NR remaining minimum system information (RMSI);    -   NR other system information (OSI);    -   Dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling; and/or    -   LPP signaling protocol.

Example 10 may include the method of any one of examples 1-9, wherein aconfigurable NR DL PRS as one of the configured DL BWPs, a specialindication parameter is defined for a selection of DL PRS BW from a setof defined DL BWP(s).

Example 11 may include the method of example 9 or some other exampleherein, wherein a special indication parameter is defined for aselection of DL PRS BW from a set of defined DL BWP(s), which isconfigured by higher layers which is one or a combination of followingoptions:

-   -   NR remaining minimum system information (RMSI);    -   NR other system information (OSI);    -   Dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling; and/or    -   LPP signaling protocol.

Example 12 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein NR DL PRS BW is configurable, wherein NR DL PRS BW isconfigurable, for which a UE that can process multiple BWPs at the sametime.

Example 13 may include the method of example 12 or some other exampleherein, wherein a UE is capable of operating in multiple BWPs at thesame time, which indicates this capability to a gNB.

Example 14 may include the method of UE-based positioning in NR systems,is configures with information entity about network synchronizationerror.

Example 15 may include the method of example 21 or some other exampleherein, wherein a UE-based positioning procedure is configured byinformation about network synchronization error, where thesynchronization error information is provided for each UE in UE-specificmanner.

Example 16 may include the method of example 21 or some other exampleherein, wherein a UE-based positioning procedure is configured byinformation about network synchronization error, where thesynchronization error information is provided in terms of one or acombination of following options:

-   -   An error of gNB-gNB timing;    -   Level of gNB-gNB timing misalignment;    -   Grade of timing uncertainty between gNBs; and/or    -   A variance of synchronization error between gNBs.

Example 17 may include the method of example 21 or some other exampleherein, wherein a UE-based positioning procedure is configured byinformation about network synchronization error; the synchronizationerror is defined as a synchronization time clock difference betweenneighbor to user gNBs and a time reference gNB node.

Example 18 may include the method of example 21 or some other exampleherein, wherein a UE-based positioning procedure is configured byinformation about network synchronization error; the synchronizationerror is configured by higher layer protocol (LPP).

Example 19 may include the method of example 24 or some other exampleherein, wherein the synchronization error is defined as asynchronization time clock difference between neighbor gNBs and a timereference gNB node, where the time reference gNB node is one or acombination of following options:

-   -   Serving gNB.    -   Any other neighbor gNB node.

Example 20 may include the method of example 21 or some other exampleherein, wherein the synchronization error between gNBs is available on anetwork side, where network entity takes into account the value ofsynchronization error between gNBs involved into NR DL positioning.

Example 21 may include the method of example 27 or some other exampleherein[0235], wherein the network entity takes into account the value ofsynchronization error between gNBs involved in NR DL positioning, wherethe larger synchronization error leads to a narrower BW allocation forNR DL PRS configuration.

Example 22 may include the method of example 27 or some other exampleherein, wherein the network entity takes into account the value ofsynchronization error between gNBs involved in NR DL positioning, wherethe smaller synchronization error allows using a wideband frequencyallocation for NR DL PRS configuration.

Example 23 may include the method of example 21 or some other exampleherein, wherein the synchronization error between gNBs is available on aUE side, where the UE is capable of adjusting the positioningmeasurement accuracy based on provided synchronization error betweengNBs involved into DL positioning operation.

Example 24 may include the method of example 30 or some other exampleherein, wherein the UE is capable of adjusting the positioningmeasurement accuracy based on provided synchronization error betweengNBs involved into DL positioning operation, where the largersynchronization error leads to a less accurate measurement provided by aUE to the network.

Example 25 may include the method of example 30 or some other exampleherein [0235], wherein the UE is capable of adjusting the positioningmeasurement accuracy based on provided synchronization error betweengNBs involved into DL positioning operation, where the smallersynchronization error leads to a more accurate measurement provided by aUE to the network.

Example 26 may include the signaling of this information is required forUE based positioning in order to understand the applicability of thecertain positioning technologies such as for example DL-TDOA (OTDOA) forNR positioning and its potential impact on UE positioning accuracy. Ifno specific signaling is provided, UE can assume that synchronizationerror is inversely proportional to the configured DL PRS transmissionBW, possibly with some non-linear adjustment or linear scaling.

Example 27 may include the method of UL NR Positioning, wherein UL SRSis a candidate reference signal for NR UL PRS.

Example 28 may include the method of example 28 or some other exampleherein, wherein UL SRS is a candidate reference signal for NR UL PRS,which is enhanced by one or a combination of following options:

-   -   UL SRS is enhanced with an extended number of supported symbols.    -   UL SRS is enhanced with reduced occupied subcarrier density.    -   UL SRS is enhanced with the utilization of time and frequency        domain CDM.

Example 29 may include the method of example 29 or some other exampleherein, wherein UL SRS is enhanced with an extended number of supportedsymbols, the number of additionally supported symbols for UL SRS morethan 4.

Example 30 may include the method of example 29 or some other exampleherein, wherein UL SRS is enhanced with reduced occupied subcarrierdensity, the number occupied REs per PRB is less than 4 and equal to 2(comb-6) and 1 (comb-12).

Example 31 may include the method of example 29 or some other exampleherein, wherein UL SRS is enhanced with the utilization of time andfrequency domain CDM, where element for the enhanced UL SRS sequence iscalculated for each symbol index, and frequency resource indexconfigured for UL SRS transmission.

Example 32 may include the method of example 32 or some other exampleherein, wherein element for the enhanced UL SRS sequence is calculatedfor each symbol index and frequency resource index configured for UL SRStransmission, which is calculated based on multiplication of Rel-15 ULSRS sequence element on a time spreading sequence element and frequencyspreading sequence element, the procedure corresponds to the followingformula:

r ^((p) ^(i) ⁾ _(l,k) =r ^((p) ^(i) ⁾ _(l,k) w _(f)(k)w _(t)(l)

Example 33 may include the method of example 33 or some other exampleherein, wherein each SRS sequence element is calculated based onmultiplication of Rel-15 UL SRS sequence element on a time spreadingsequence element and frequency spreading sequence element, where timespreading sequence element is derived from time spreading sequence usingsymbol index value, frequency resource index value and a number ofelements inside time spreading sequence.

Example 34 may include method of example 33 or some other exampleherein, wherein each SRS sequence element is calculated based onmultiplication of Rel-15 UL SRS sequence element on a time spreadingsequence element and frequency spreading sequence element, wherefrequency spreading sequence element is derived from frequency spreadingsequence using symbol index value, frequency resource index value and anumber of elements inside frequency spreading sequence.

Example 35 may include the method of example 33 or some other exampleherein, wherein each SRS sequence element is calculated based onmultiplication of Rel-15 UL SRS sequence element on a time spreadingsequence element and frequency spreading sequence element, where timespreading sequence and frequency spreading sequence are calculated basedon one or a combination of following options:

-   -   Generated based on Hadamard matrices;    -   Generated based on DFT based matrices; and/or    -   Generated based on pseudo orthogonal matrices of randomly        generated sequences.

Example 36 may include the method of UL NR Positioning, wherein NR DLPRS is transmitted in a dedicated set of resources.

Example 37 may include the method of example 38 or some other exampleherein, wherein NR DL PRS is transmitted in a dedicated set ofresources, where the network can trigger any DL data transmission insidededicated DL PRS resources.

Example 38 may include the method of example 38 or some other exampleherein, wherein the network can trigger any DL data transmission insidededicated DL PRS resources, network reconfigures the DL PRS parametersin order to minimize the collision probabilities with any other DLtransmissions inside of the dedicated set of resources.

Example 39 may include the method of example 39 or some other exampleherein, wherein network can triggers any DL data transmission insidededicated DL PRS resources, gNBs mute the NR DL PRS transmissions, whichresources collide with the other DL transmission.

Example 40 may include the method of example 39 or some other exampleherein, wherein network can triggers any DL data transmission insidededicated DL PRS resources, network indicates set or subset of DL PRSresources which was collided with other DL data transmission to UEsinvolved into positioning procedure, in order to inform them that themeasurement Rx procedure for these DL PRS resources can be dropped orthat the indicated measurements are not required to be signaled to thenetwork.

Example 41 may include the method of example 39 or some other exampleherein, wherein network can triggers any DL data transmission insidededicated DL PRS resources, network indicates set or subset of DL PRSresources which was collided with other DL data transmission to UEsinvolved into positioning procedure, in order to inform them that themeasurement Rx procedure for these DL PRS resources can be dropped orthat the indicated measurements are not required to be signaled to thenetwork.

Example 42 may include the method of example 39 or some other exampleherein, wherein the network can trigger any DL data transmission insidededicated DL PRS resources; the network indicates a set of measurementsbased on DL PRS resources, which collided with other DL datatransmission to a location server entity in order to provide theinformation that these measurements could be spoiled and theirutilization can be limited or excluded from location calculationprocedure.

Example 43 may include a method for use in a new radio (NR) system,comprising:

configuring or causing to configure an NR downlink (DL) positioningreference signal (PRS) resource;

configuring or causing to configure an NR DL bandwidth part (BWP) inresponse to the configuration of the NR DL PRS resource, wherein the NRPRS resource is configured independently of the NR DL BWP;

allocating or causing to allocate the configured NR PRS resource withthe configured NR DL BWP; and

transmitting or causing to transmit the configured NR PRS resource andthe configured NR DL BWP.

Example 44 may include the method of example 43 or some other exampleherein, wherein allocating or causing to allocate the configured NR PRSresource with the configured NR DL BWP comprises:

allocating or causing to allocate the configured NR PRS resource withinor outside the configured NR DL BWP.

Example 45 may include the method of example 43 or some other exampleherein, wherein allocating or causing to allocate the configured NR PRSresource with the configured NR DL BWP comprises:

allocating or causing to allocate the configured NR PRS resource byoverlapping the configured NR PRS resource with the configured NR DLBWP.

Example 46 may include a method for use in a new radio (NR) system,comprising:

defining or causing to define a dedicated downlink (DL) bandwidth part(part);

and aligning or causing to align the dedicated DL BWP with a bandwidththat is associated with the transmission of an NR DL positioningreference signal (PRS).

Example 47 may include the method of example 46 or some other exampleherein, wherein a configuration of an NR DL PRS resource is applied in acell-specific manner.

Example 48 may include the method of example 46 or some other exampleherein, wherein a configuration of an NR DL PRS resource is applied in auser equipment (UE) specific manner.

Example 49 may include a method for use in a new radio (NR) system,comprising:

configuring or causing to configure a downlink (DL) bandwidth part (BWP)by a next-generation NodeB (gNB);

ascertaining or causing to ascertain a BWP identifier for the DL BWP,wherein the DL BWP will be used for the transmission of an NR DLpositioning reference signal (PRS) resource; and transmitting or causingto transmit the NR DL PRS resource using the DL BWP.

Example 50 may include the method of example 49 or some other exampleherein, wherein a bandwidth (BW) associated with the DL BWP is assumedto be aligned with or to exceed a BW associated with the transmission ofthe NR DL PRS resource.

Example 51 may include a method for use in a new radio (NR) system,comprising:

determining or causing to determine that a downlink (DL) positioningreference signal (PRS) bandwidth (BW) exceeds a BW of an active DLbandwidth part (BWP); and

monitoring or causing to monitor an NR DL PRS BW in response to thedetermination.

Example 52 may include the method of example 51 or some other exampleherein, further comprising:

processing or causing to process the NR DL PRS BW.

Example 53 may include a method for use in a new radio (NR) system,comprising:

determining or causing to determine that a downlink (DL) positioningreference signal (PRS) bandwidth (BW) is less than a BW of an active DLbandwidth part (BWP);

and operating or causing to operate according to the BW of the active DLBWP in response to the determination.

Example 54 may include the method of example 53 or some other exampleherein, wherein operating or causing to operate according to the BW ofthe active DL BWP in response to the determination comprises:

operating or causing to operate a user equipment according to the BW ofthe active DL BWP.

Example 55 may include a method for use in a new radio (NR) system,comprising:

receiving or causing to receive, by a user equipment (UE), informationabout a level of network synchronization accuracy;

processing or causing to process the received information withinformation associated with a positioning system; and

determining or causing to determine a position of the UE based on theprocessed information.

Example 56 may include the method of example 55 or some other exampleherein, wherein the information about the level of networksynchronization accuracy comprises a measure of synchronization errorbetween multiple next-generation NodeBs (gNBs) involved into atransmission of NR downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS).

Example 57 may include the method of example 56 or some other exampleherein, wherein the measure of synchronization error comprises a maximumsynchronization error, an average synchronization error, or a standarddeviation of a synchronization error.

Example 58 may include the method of example 55 or some other exampleherein, wherein the positioning system comprises a time difference ofarrival (TDOA) based positioning system.

Example 59 may include a method for use in a new radio system,comprising:

increasing or causing to increase a number of symbols used fortransmission of an uplink (UL) sounding reference signal; and

determining or causing to determine UL positioning based, at least inpart, on the increased number of symbols.

Example 60 may include a method for use in a new radio system,comprising:

reducing or causing to reduce a number of allocated subcarriersassociated with transmission of an uplink (UL) sounding referencesignal; and

determining or causing to determine UL positioning based, at least inpart, on the reduced number of allocated subcarriers.

Example 61 may include a method for use in a new radio system,comprising:

generating or causing to generate an uplink (UL) sounding referencesignal (SRS) sequence based on code division multiplexing (CDM); and

increasing or causing to increase a number of user equipments (UEs)associated with a UL SRS based, at least in part, on the generated ULSRS sequence.

Example 62 may include the method of example 61 or some other exampleherein, wherein the UEs are involved in UL positioning.

Example 63 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio (NR) system,comprising:

means for configuring an NR downlink (DL) positioning reference signal(PRS) resource;

means for configuring an NR DL bandwidth part (BWP) in response to theconfiguration of the NR DL PRS resource, wherein the NR PRS resource isconfigured independently of the NR DL BWP;

means for allocating the configured NR PRS resource with the configuredNR DL BWP; and

means for transmitting the configured NR PRS resource and the configuredNR DL BWP.

Example 64 may include the apparatus of example 63 or some other exampleherein, wherein the means for allocating the configured NR PRS resourcewith the configured NR DL BWP comprises:

means for allocating the configured NR PRS resource within or outsidethe configured NR DL BWP.

Example 65 may include the apparatus of example 63 or some other exampleherein, wherein the means for allocating the configured NR PRS resourcewith the configured NR DL BWP comprises:

means for allocating the configured NR PRS resource by overlapping theconfigured NR PRS resource with the configured NR DL BWP.

Example 66 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio (NR) system,comprising:

means for defining a dedicated downlink (DL) bandwidth part (part); and

means for aligning the dedicated DL BWP with a bandwidth that isassociated with the transmission of an NR DL positioning referencesignal (PRS).

Example 67 may include the apparatus of example 66 or some other exampleherein, wherein a configuration of an NR DL PRS resource is applied in acell-specific manner.

Example 68 may include the apparatus of example 66 or some other exampleherein, wherein a configuration of an NR DL PRS resource is applied in auser equipment (UE) specific manner.

Example 69 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio (NR) system,comprising:

means for configuring a downlink (DL) bandwidth part (BWP) by anext-generation NodeB (gNB);

means for ascertaining a BWP identifier for the DL BWP, wherein the DLBWP will be used for the transmission of an NR DL positioning referencesignal (PRS) resource; and means for transmitting the NR DL PRS resourceusing the DL BWP.

Example 70 may include the apparatus of example 69 or some other exampleherein, wherein a bandwidth (BW) associated with the DL BWP is assumedto be aligned with or to exceed a BW associated with the transmission ofthe NR DL PRS resource.

Example 71 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio (NR) system,comprising:

means for determining that a downlink (DL) positioning reference signal(PRS) bandwidth (BW) exceeds a BW of an active DL bandwidth part (BWP);and

means for monitoring an NR DL PRS BW in response to the determination.

Example 72 may include the apparatus of example 71 or some other exampleherein, further comprising:

means for processing the NR DL PRS BW.

Example 73 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio (NR) system,comprising:

means for determining that a downlink (DL) positioning reference signal(PRS) bandwidth (BW) is less than a BW of an active DL bandwidth part(BWP); and

means for operating according to the BW of the active DL BWP in responseto the determination.

Example 74 may include the apparatus of example 73 or some other exampleherein, wherein the means for operating according to the BW of theactive DL BWP in response to the determination comprises:

means for operating a user equipment according to the BW of the activeDL BWP.

Example 75 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio (NR) system,comprising:

means for receiving, by a user equipment (UE), information about a levelof network synchronization accuracy;

means for processing the received information with informationassociated with a positioning system; and

means for determining a position of the UE based on the processedinformation.

Example 76 may include the apparatus of example 75 or some other exampleherein, wherein the information about the level of networksynchronization accuracy comprises a measure of synchronization errorbetween multiple next-generation NodeBs (gNBs) involved into thetransmission of NR downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS).

Example 77 may include the apparatus of example 76 or some other exampleherein, wherein the measure of synchronization error comprises a maximumsynchronization error, an average synchronization error, or a standarddeviation of a synchronization error.

Example 78 may include the apparatus of example 75 or some other exampleherein, wherein the positioning system comprises a time difference ofarrival (TDOA) based positioning system.

Example 79 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio system,comprising:

means for increasing a number of symbols used for transmission of anuplink (UL) sounding reference signal; and

means for determining UL positioning based, at least in part, on theincreased number of symbols.

Example 80 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio system,comprising:

means for reducing a number of allocated subcarriers associated with thetransmission of an uplink (UL) sounding reference signal; and

means for determining to determine UL positioning based, at least inpart, on the reduced number of allocated subcarriers.

Example 81 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio system,comprising:

means for generating an uplink (UL) sounding reference signal (SRS)sequence based on code division multiplexing (CDM); and

means for increasing the number of user equipments (UEs) associated witha UL SRS based, at least in part, on the generated UL SRS sequence.

Example 82 may include the apparatus of example 81 or some other exampleherein, wherein the UEs are involved in UL positioning.

Example 83 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio (NR) system,configured to:

configure an NR downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS)resource;

configure an NR DL bandwidth part (BWP) in response to the configurationof the NR DL PRS resource, wherein the NR PRS resource is configuredindependently of the NR DL BWP;

allocate the configured NR PRS resource with the configured NR DL BWP;and

transmit the configured NR PRS resource and the configured NR DL BWP.

Example 84 may include the apparatus of example 83 or some other exampleherein, wherein the apparatus configured to allocate the configured NRPRS resource with the configured NR DL BWP comprises the apparatusconfigured to:

allocate the configured NR PRS resource within or outside the configuredNR DL BWP.

Example 85 may include the apparatus of example 83 or some other exampleherein, wherein the apparatus configured to allocate the configured NRPRS resource with the configured NR DL BWP comprises the apparatusconfigured to:

allocate the configured NR PRS resource by overlapping the configured NRPRS resource with the configured NR DL BWP.

Example 86 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio (NR) system,configured to:

define a dedicated downlink (DL) bandwidth part (part); and

align the dedicated DL BWP with a bandwidth that is associated with thetransmission of an NR DL positioning reference signal (PRS).

Example 87 may include the apparatus of example 86 or some other exampleherein, wherein a configuration of an NR DL PRS resource is applied in acell-specific manner.

Example 88 may include the apparatus of example 86 or some other exampleherein, wherein a configuration of an NR DL PRS resource is applied in auser equipment (UE) specific manner.

Example 89 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio (NR) system,configured to:

configure a downlink (DL) bandwidth part (BWP) by a next-generationNodeB (gNB);

ascertain a BWP identifier for the DL BWP, wherein the DL BWP will beused for the transmission of an NR DL positioning reference signal (PRS)resource; and

transmit the NR DL PRS resource using the DL BWP.

Example 90 may include the apparatus of example 89 or some other exampleherein, wherein a bandwidth (BW) associated with the DL BWP is assumedto be aligned with or to exceed a BW associated with the transmission ofthe NR DL PRS resource.

Example 91 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio (NR) system,configured to:

determine that a downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS)bandwidth (BW) exceeds a BW of an active DL bandwidth part (BWP); and

monitor an NR DL PRS BW in response to the determination.

Example 92 may include the apparatus of example 91 or some other exampleherein, further comprising:

process the NR DL PRS BW.

Example 93 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio (NR) system,configured to:

determine that a downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS)bandwidth (BW) is less than a BW of an active DL bandwidth part (BWP);and

operate according to the BW of the active DL BWP in response to thedetermination.

Example 94 may include the apparatus of example 93 or some other exampleherein, wherein the apparatus configured to operate according to the BWof the active DL BWP in response to the determination comprises theapparatus configured to: operate a user equipment according to the BW ofthe active DL BWP.

Example 95 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio (NR) system,configured to:

receive, by a user equipment (UE), information about a level of networksynchronization accuracy;

process the received information with information associated with apositioning system; and

determine a position of the UE based on the processed information.

Example 96 may include the apparatus of example 95 or some other exampleherein, wherein the information about the level of networksynchronization accuracy comprises a measure of synchronization errorbetween multiple next-generation NodeBs (gNBs) involved into thetransmission of an NR downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS).

Example 97 may include the apparatus of example 96 or some other exampleherein, wherein the measure of synchronization error comprises a maximumsynchronization error, an average synchronization error, or a standarddeviation of a synchronization error.

Example 98 may include the apparatus of example 95 or some other exampleherein, wherein the positioning system comprises a time difference ofarrival (TDOA) based positioning system.

Example 99 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio system,configured to:

increase a number of symbols used for transmission of an uplink (UL)sounding reference signal; and

determine UL positioning based, at least in part, on the increasednumber of symbols.

Example 100 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio system,configured to:

reduce a number of allocated subcarriers associated with thetransmission of an uplink (UL) sounding reference signal; and

determine UL positioning based, at least in part, on the reduced numberof allocated subcarriers.

Example 101 may include an apparatus for use in a new radio system,configured to:

generate an uplink (UL) sounding reference signal (SRS) sequence basedon code division multiplexing (CDM); and

increase a number of user equipments (UEs) associated with a UL SRSbased, at least in part, on the generated UL SRS sequence.

Example 102 may include the apparatus of example 101 or some otherexample herein, wherein the UEs are involved in UL positioning.

Example 103 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one ormore elements of a method described in or related to any of examples1-102, or any other method or process described herein.

Example 104 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, uponexecution of the instructions by one or more processors of theelectronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method describedin or related to any of examples 1-102, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 105 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, orcircuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in orrelated to any of examples 1-102, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 106 may include a method, technique, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-102, or portions or parts thereof.

Example 107 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processorsand one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-102, or portions thereof.

Example 108 may include a signal as described in or related to any ofexamples 1-102, or portions or parts thereof.

Example 109 may include a signal in a wireless network, as shown anddescribed herein.

Example 110 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network,as shown and described herein.

Example 111 may include a system for providing wireless communication,as shown and described herein.

Example 112 may include a device for providing wireless communication,as shown and described herein.

Example 113 may include an apparatus according to any of any one ofexamples 1-102, wherein the apparatus or any portion thereof isimplemented in or by a user equipment (UE).

Example 114 may include a method according to any of any one of examples1-102, wherein the method or any portion thereof is implemented in or bya user equipment (UE).

Example 115 may include an apparatus according to any of any one ofexamples 1-102, wherein the apparatus or any portion thereof isimplemented in or by a base station (B S).

Example 116 may include a method according to any of any one of examples1-102, wherein the method or any portion thereof is implemented in or bya base station (BS).

Any of the above-described examples may be combined with any otherexample (or combination of examples) unless explicitly stated otherwise.The foregoing description of one or more implementations providesillustration and description but is not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the scope of embodiments/aspects to the precise form disclosed.Modifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteachings or may be acquired from practice of variousembodiments/aspects.

Abbreviations

For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviationsmay apply to the examples and embodiments/aspects discussed herein, butare not meant to be limiting.

-   -   3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project    -   4G Fourth Generation    -   5G Fifth Generation    -   5GC 5G Core network    -   ACK Acknowledgement    -   AF Application Function    -   AM Acknowledged Mode    -   AMBR Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate    -   AMF Access and Mobility Management Function    -   AN Access Network    -   ANR Automatic Neighbour Relation    -   AP Application Protocol, Antenna Port, Access Point    -   API Application Programming Interface    -   APN Access Point Name    -   ARP Allocation and Retention Priority    -   ARQ Automatic Repeat Request    -   AS Access Stratum    -   ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Notation One    -   AUSF Authentication Server Function    -   AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise    -   BCH Broadcast Channel    -   BER Bit Error Ratio    -   BFD Beam Failure Detection    -   BLER Block Error Rate    -   BPSK Binary Phase Shift Keying    -   BRAS Broadband Remote Access Server    -   BSS Business Support System    -   BS Base Station    -   BSR Buffer Status Report    -   BW Bandwidth    -   BWP Bandwidth Part    -   C-RNTI Cell Radio Network Temporary Identity    -   CA Carrier Aggregation, Certification Authority    -   CAPEX CAPital EXpenditure    -   CBRA Contention Based Random Access    -   CC Component Carrier, Country Code, Cryptographic Checksum    -   CCA Clear Channel Assessment    -   CCE Control Channel Element    -   CCCH Common Control Channel    -   CE Coverage Enhancement    -   CDM Content Delivery Network    -   CDMA Code-Division Multiple Access    -   CFRA Contention Free Random Access    -   CG Cell Group    -   CI Cell Identity    -   CID Cell-ID (e.g., positioning method)    -   CIM Common Information Model    -   CIR Carrier to Interference Ratio    -   CK Cipher Key    -   CM Connection Management, Conditional Mandatory    -   CMAS Commercial Mobile Alert Service    -   CMD Command    -   CMS Cloud Management System    -   CO Conditional Optional    -   CoMP Coordinated Multi-Point    -   CORESET Control Resource Set    -   COTS Commercial Off-The-Shelf    -   CP Control Plane, Cyclic Prefix, Connection Point    -   CPD Connection Point Descriptor    -   CPE Customer Premise Equipment    -   CPICH Common Pilot Channel    -   CQI Channel Quality Indicator    -   CPU CSI processing unit, Central Processing Unit    -   C/R Command/Response field bit    -   CRAN Cloud Radio Access Network, Cloud RAN    -   CRB Common Resource Block    -   CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check    -   CRI Channel-State Information Resource Indicator, CSI-RS        Resource    -   Indicator    -   C-RNTI Cell RNTI    -   CS Circuit Switched    -   CSAR Cloud Service Archive    -   CSI Channel-State Information    -   CSI-IM CSI Interference Measurement    -   CSI-RS CSI Reference Signal    -   CSI-RSRP CSI reference signal received power    -   CSI-RSRQ CSI reference signal received quality    -   CSI-SINR CSI signal-to-noise and interference ratio    -   CSMA Carrier Sense Multiple Access    -   CSMA/CA CSMA with collision avoidance    -   CSS Common Search Space, Cell-specific Search Space    -   CTS Clear-to-Send    -   CW Codeword    -   CWS Contention Window Size    -   D2D Device-to-Device    -   DC Dual Connectivity, Direct Current    -   DCI Downlink Control Information    -   DF Deployment Flavour    -   DL Downlink    -   DMTF Distributed Management Task Force    -   DPDK Data Plane Development Kit    -   DM-RS, DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal    -   DN Data network    -   DRB Data Radio Bearer    -   DRS Discovery Reference Signal    -   DRX Discontinuous Reception    -   DSL Domain Specific Language. Digital Subscriber Line    -   DSLAM DSL Access Multiplexer    -   DwPTS Downlink Pilot Time Slot    -   E-LAN Ethernet Local Area Network    -   E2E End-to-End    -   ECCA extended clear channel assessment, extended CCA    -   ECCE Enhanced Control Channel Element, Enhanced CCE    -   ED Energy Detection    -   EDGE Enhanced Datarates for GSM Evolution (GSM Evolution)    -   EGMF Exposure Governance Management Function    -   EGPRS Enhanced GPRS    -   EIR Equipment Identity Register    -   eLAA enhanced Licensed Assisted Access, enhanced LAA    -   EM Element Manager    -   eMBB Enhanced Mobile Broadband    -   EMS Element Management System    -   eNB evolved NodeB, E-UTRAN Node B    -   EN-DC E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity    -   EPC Evolved Packet Core    -   EPDCCH enhanced PDCCH, enhanced Physical Downlink Control Cannel    -   EPRE Energy per resource element    -   EPS Evolved Packet System    -   EREG enhanced REG, enhanced resource element groups    -   ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute    -   ETWS Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System    -   eUICC embedded UICC, embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card    -   E-UTRA Evolved UTRA    -   E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN    -   EV2X Enhanced V2X    -   F1AP F1 Application Protocol    -   F1-C F1 Control plane interface    -   F1-U F1 User plane interface    -   FACCH Fast Associated Control CHannel    -   FACCH/F Fast Associated Control Channel/Full rate    -   FACCH/H Fast Associated Control Channel/Half rate    -   FACH Forward Access Channel    -   FAUSCH Fast Uplink Signalling Channel    -   FB Functional Block    -   FBI Feedback Information    -   FCC Federal Communications Commission    -   FCCH Frequency Correction CHannel    -   FDD Frequency Division Duplex    -   FDM Frequency Division Multiplex    -   FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access    -   FE Front End    -   FEC Forward Error Correction    -   FFS For Further Study    -   FFT Fast Fourier Transformation    -   feLAA further enhanced Licensed Assisted Access, further        enhanced LAA    -   FN Frame Number    -   FPGA Field-Programmable Gate Array    -   FR Frequency Range    -   G-RNTI GERAN Radio Network Temporary Identity    -   GERAN GSM EDGE RAN, GSM EDGE Radio Access Network    -   GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node    -   GLONASS GLObal'naya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (Engl.:        Global Navigation Satellite System)    -   gNB Next Generation NodeB    -   gNB-CU gNB-centralized unit, Next Generation NodeB centralized        unit    -   gNB-DU gNB-distributed unit, Next Generation NodeB distributed        unit    -   GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System    -   GPRS General Packet Radio Service    -   GSM Global System for Mobile Communications, Groupe Special        Mobile    -   GTP GPRS Tunneling Protocol    -   GTP-U GPRS Tunnelling Protocol for User Plane    -   GTS Go To Sleep Signal (related to WUS)    -   GUMMEI Globally Unique MME Identifier    -   GUTI Globally Unique Temporary UE Identity    -   HARQ Hybrid ARQ, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request    -   HANDO, HO Handover    -   HFN HyperFrame Number    -   HHO Hard Handover    -   HLR Home Location Register    -   HN Home Network    -   HO Handover    -   HPLMN Home Public Land Mobile Network    -   HSDPA High Speed Downlink Packet Access    -   HSN Hopping Sequence Number    -   HSPA High Speed Packet Access    -   HSS Home Subscriber Server    -   HSUPA High Speed Uplink Packet Access    -   HTTP Hyper Text Transfer Protocol    -   HTTPS Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (https is http/1.1        over SSL, i.e. port 443)    -   I-Block Information Block    -   ICCID Integrated Circuit Card Identification    -   ICIC Inter-Cell Interference Coordination    -   ID Identity, identifier    -   IDFT Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform    -   IE Information element    -   IBE In-Band Emission    -   IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers    -   IEI Information Element Identifier    -   IEIDL Information Element Identifier Data Length    -   IETF Internet Engineering Task Force    -   IF Infrastructure    -   IM Interference Measurement, Intermodulation, IP Multimedia    -   IMC IMS Credentials    -   IMEI International Mobile Equipment Identity    -   IMGI International mobile group identity    -   IMPI IP Multimedia Private Identity    -   IMPU IP Multimedia PUblic identity    -   IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem    -   IMSI International Mobile Subscriber Identity    -   IoT Internet of Things    -   IP Internet Protocol    -   Ipsec IP Security, Internet Protocol Security    -   IP-CAN IP-Connectivity Access Network    -   IP-M IP Multicast    -   IPv4 Internet Protocol Version 4    -   IPv6 Internet Protocol Version 6    -   IR Infrared    -   IS In Sync    -   IRP Integration Reference Point    -   ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network    -   ISIM IM Services Identity Module    -   ISO International Organisation for Standardisation    -   ISP Internet Service Provider    -   IWF Interworking-Function    -   I-WLAN Interworking WLAN    -   K Constraint length of the convolutional code, USIM Individual    -   key    -   kB Kilobyte (1000 bytes)    -   kbps kilo-bits per second    -   Kc Ciphering key    -   Ki Individual subscriber authentication key    -   KPI Key Performance Indicator    -   KQI Key Quality Indicator    -   KSI Key Set Identifier    -   ksps kilo-symbols per second    -   KVM Kernel Virtual Machine    -   L1 Layer 1 (physical layer)    -   L1-RSRP Layer 1 reference signal received power    -   L2 Layer 2 (data link layer)    -   L3 Layer 3 (network layer)    -   LAA Licensed Assisted Access    -   LAN Local Area Network    -   LBT Listen Before Talk    -   LCM LifeCycle Management    -   LCR Low Chip Rate    -   LCS Location Services    -   LCID Logical Channel ID    -   LI Layer Indicator    -   LLC Logical Link Control, Low Layer Compatibility    -   LPLMN Local PLMN    -   LPP LTE Positioning Protocol    -   LSB Least Significant Bit    -   LTE Long Term Evolution    -   LWA LTE-WLAN aggregation    -   LWIP LTE/WLAN Radio Level Integration with IPsec Tunnel    -   LTE Long Term Evolution    -   M2M Machine-to-Machine    -   MAC Medium Access Control (protocol layering context)    -   MAC Message authentication code (security/encryption context)    -   MAC-A MAC used for authentication and key agreement (TSG T WG3        context)    -   MAC-I MAC used for data integrity of signalling messages (TSG T    -   WG3 context)    -   MANO Management and Orchestration    -   MBMS Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service    -   MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single Frequency        Network    -   MCC Mobile Country Code    -   MCG Master Cell Group    -   MCOT Maximum Channel Occupancy Time    -   MCS Modulation and coding scheme    -   MDAF Management Data Analytics Function    -   MDAS Management Data Analytics Service    -   MDT Minimization of Drive Tests    -   ME Mobile Equipment    -   MeNB master eNB    -   MER Message Error Ratio    -   MGL Measurement Gap Length    -   MGRP Measurement Gap Repetition Period    -   MIB Master Information Block, Management Information Base    -   MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output    -   MLC Mobile Location Centre    -   MM Mobility Management    -   MME Mobility Management Entity    -   MN Master Node    -   MO Measurement Object, Mobile Originated    -   MPBCH MTC Physical Broadcast CHannel    -   MPDCCH MTC Physical Downlink Control CHannel    -   MPDSCH MTC Physical Downlink Shared CHannel    -   MPRACH MTC Physical Random Access CHannel    -   MPUSCH MTC Physical Uplink Shared Channel    -   MPLS MultiProtocol Label Switching    -   MS Mobile Station    -   MSB Most Significant Bit    -   MSC Mobile Switching Centre    -   MSI Minimum System Information, MCH Scheduling Information    -   MSID Mobile Station Identifier    -   MSIN Mobile Station Identification Number    -   MSISDN Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number    -   MT Mobile Terminated, Mobile Termination    -   MTC Machine-Type Communications    -   mMTC massive MTC, massive Machine-Type Communications    -   MU-MIMO Multi User MIMO    -   MWUS MTC wake-up signal, MTC WUS    -   NACK Negative Acknowledgement    -   NAI Network Access Identifier    -   NAS Non-Access Stratum, Non-Access Stratum layer    -   NCT Network Connectivity Topology    -   NEC Network Capability Exposure    -   NE-DC NR-E-UTRA Dual Connectivity    -   NEF Network Exposure Function    -   NF Network Function    -   NFP Network Forwarding Path    -   NFPD Network Forwarding Path Descriptor    -   NFV Network Functions Virtualization    -   NFVI NFV Infrastructure    -   NFVO NFV Orchestrator    -   NG Next Generation, Next Gen    -   NGEN-DC NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity    -   NM Network Manager    -   NMS Network Management System    -   N-PoP Network Point of Presence    -   NMIB, N-MIB Narrowband MIB    -   NPBCH Narrowband Physical Broadcast CHannel    -   NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control CHannel    -   NPDSCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Shared CHannel    -   NPRACH Narrowband Physical Random Access CHannel    -   NPUSCH Narrowband Physical Uplink Shared CHannel    -   NPSS Narrowband Primary Synchronization Signal    -   NSSS Narrowband Secondary Synchronization Signal    -   NR New Radio, Neighbour Relation    -   NRF NF Repository Function    -   NRS Narrowband Reference Signal    -   NS Network Service    -   NSA Non-Standalone operation mode    -   NSD Network Service Descriptor    -   NSR Network Service Record    -   NSSAI ‘Network Slice Selection Assistance Information    -   S-NNSAI Single-NSSAI    -   NSSF Network Slice Selection Function    -   NW Network    -   NWUS Narrowband wake-up signal, Narrowband WUS    -   NZP Non-Zero Power    -   O&M Operation and Maintenance    -   ODU2 Optical channel Data Unit—type 2    -   OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing    -   OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access    -   OOB Out-of-band    -   OOS Out of Sync    -   OPEX OPerating EXpense    -   OSI Other System Information    -   OSS Operations Support System    -   OTA over-the-air    -   PAPR Peak-to-Average Power Ratio    -   PAR Peak to Average Ratio    -   PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel    -   PC Power Control, Personal Computer    -   PCC Primary Component Carrier, Primary CC    -   PCell Primary Cell    -   PCI Physical Cell ID, Physical Cell Identity    -   PCEF Policy and Charging Enforcement Function    -   PCF Policy Control Function    -   PCRF Policy Control and Charging Rules Function    -   PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol, Packet Data Convergence    -   Protocol layer    -   PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel    -   PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol    -   PDN Packet Data Network, Public Data Network    -   PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel    -   PDU Protocol Data Unit    -   PEI Permanent Equipment Identifiers    -   PFD Packet Flow Description    -   P-GW PDN Gateway    -   PHICH Physical hybrid-ARQ indicator channel    -   PHY Physical layer    -   PLMN Public Land Mobile Network    -   PIN Personal Identification Number    -   PM Performance Measurement    -   PMI Precoding Matrix Indicator    -   PNF Physical Network Function    -   PNFD Physical Network Function Descriptor    -   PNFR Physical Network Function Record    -   POC PTT over Cellular    -   PP, PTP Point-to-Point    -   PPP Point-to-Point Protocol    -   PRACH Physical RACH    -   PRB Physical resource block    -   PRG Physical resource block group    -   ProSe Proximity Services, Proximity-Based Service    -   PRS Positioning Reference Signal    -   PRR Packet Reception Radio    -   PS Packet Services    -   PSBCH Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel    -   PSDCH Physical Sidelink Downlink Channel    -   PSCCH Physical Sidelink Control Channel    -   PSSCH Physical Sidelink Shared Channel    -   PSCell Primary SCell    -   PSS Primary Synchronization Signal    -   PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network    -   PT-RS Phase-tracking reference signal    -   PTT Push-to-Talk    -   PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel    -   PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel    -   QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation    -   QCI QoS class of identifier    -   QCL Quasi co-location    -   QFI QoS Flow ID, QoS Flow Identifier    -   QoS Quality of Service    -   QPSK Quadrature (Quaternary) Phase Shift Keying    -   QZSS Quasi-Zenith Satellite System    -   RA-RNTI Random Access RNTI    -   RAB Radio Access Bearer, Random Access Burst    -   RACH Random Access Channel    -   RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial In User Service    -   RAN Radio Access Network    -   RAND RANDom number (used for authentication)    -   RAR Random Access Response    -   RAT Radio Access Technology    -   RAU Routing Area Update    -   RB Resource block, Radio Bearer    -   RBG Resource block group    -   REG Resource Element Group    -   Rel Release    -   REQ REQuest    -   RF Radio Frequency    -   RI Rank Indicator    -   MV Resource indicator value    -   RL Radio Link    -   RLC Radio Link Control, Radio Link Control layer    -   RLC AM RLC Acknowledged Mode    -   RLC UM RLC Unacknowledged Mode    -   RLF Radio Link Failure    -   RLM Radio Link Monitoring    -   RLM-RS Reference Signal for RLM    -   RM Registration Management    -   RMC Reference Measurement Channel    -   RMSI Remaining MSI, Remaining Minimum System Information    -   RN Relay Node    -   RNC Radio Network Controller    -   RNL Radio Network Layer    -   RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier    -   ROHC RObust Header Compression    -   RRC Radio Resource Control, Radio Resource Control layer    -   RRM Radio Resource Management    -   RS Reference Signal    -   RSRP Reference Signal Received Power    -   RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality    -   RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator    -   RSU Road Side Unit    -   RSTD Reference Signal Time difference    -   RTP Real Time Protocol    -   RTS Ready-To-Send    -   RTT Round Trip Time    -   Rx Reception, Receiving, Receiver    -   S1AP S1 Application Protocol    -   S1-MME S1 for the control plane    -   S1-U S1 for the user plane    -   S-GW Serving Gateway    -   S-RNTI SRNC Radio Network Temporary Identity    -   S-TMSI SAE Temporary Mobile Station Identifier    -   SA Standalone operation mode    -   SAE System Architecture Evolution    -   SAP Service Access Point    -   SAPD Service Access Point Descriptor    -   SAPI Service Access Point Identifier    -   SCC Secondary Component Carrier, Secondary CC    -   SCell Secondary Cell    -   SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access    -   SCG Secondary Cell Group    -   SCM Security Context Management    -   SCS Subcarrier Spacing    -   SCTP Stream Control Transmission Protocol    -   SDAP Service Data Adaptation Protocol, Service Data Adaptation    -   Protocol layer    -   SDL Supplementary Downlink    -   SDNF Structured Data Storage Network Function    -   SDP Session Description Protocol    -   SDSF Structured Data Storage Function    -   SDU Service Data Unit    -   SEAF Security Anchor Function    -   SeNB secondary eNB    -   SEPP Security Edge Protection Proxy    -   SFI Slot format indication    -   SFTD Space-Frequency Time Diversity, SFN and frame timing        difference    -   SFN System Frame Number    -   SgNB Secondary gNB    -   SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node    -   S-GW Serving Gateway    -   SI System Information    -   SI-RNTI System Information RNTI    -   SIB System Information Block    -   SIM Subscriber Identity Module    -   SIP Session Initiated Protocol    -   SiP System in Package    -   SL Sidelink    -   SLA Service Level Agreement    -   SM Session Management    -   SMF Session Management Function    -   SMS Short Message Service    -   SMSF SMS Function    -   SMTC SSB-based Measurement Timing Configuration    -   SN Secondary Node, Sequence Number    -   SoC System on Chip    -   SON Self-Organizing Network    -   SpCell Special Cell    -   SP-CSI-RNTI Semi-Persistent CSI RNTI    -   SPS Semi-Persistent Scheduling    -   SQN Sequence number    -   SR Scheduling Request    -   SRB Signalling Radio Bearer    -   SRS Sounding Reference Signal    -   SS Synchronization Signal    -   SSB Synchronization Signal Block, SS/PBCH Block    -   SSBRI SS/PBCH Block Resource Indicator, Synchronization Signal        Block Resource Indicator    -   SSC Session and Service Continuity    -   SS-RSRP Synchronization Signal based Reference Signal Received        Power    -   SS-RSRQ Synchronization Signal based Reference Signal Received        Quality    -   SS-SINR Synchronization Signal based Signal to Noise and        Interference Ratio    -   SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal    -   SSSG Search Space Set Group    -   SSSIF Search Space Set Indicator    -   SST Slice/Service Types    -   SU-MIMO Single User MIMO    -   SUL Supplementary Uplink    -   TA Timing Advance, Tracking Area    -   TAC Tracking Area Code    -   TAG Timing Advance Group    -   TAU Tracking Area Update    -   TB Transport Block    -   TBS Transport Block Size    -   TBD To Be Defined    -   TCI Transmission Configuration Indicator    -   TCP Transmission Communication Protocol    -   TDD Time Division Duplex    -   TDM Time Division Multiplexing    -   TDMA Time Division Multiple Access    -   TE Terminal Equipment    -   TEID Tunnel End Point Identifier    -   TFT Traffic Flow Template    -   TMSI Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity    -   TNL Transport Network Layer    -   TPC Transmit Power Control    -   TPMI Transmitted Precoding Matrix Indicator    -   TR Technical Report    -   TRP, TRxP Transmission Reception Point    -   TRS Tracking Reference Signal    -   TRx Transceiver    -   TS Technical Specifications, Technical Standard    -   TTI Transmission Time Interval    -   Tx Transmission, Transmitting, Transmitter    -   U-RNTI UTRAN Radio Network Temporary Identity    -   UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter    -   UCI Uplink Control Information    -   UE User Equipment    -   UDM Unified Data Management    -   UDP User Datagram Protocol    -   UDSF Unstructured Data Storage Network Function    -   UICC Universal Integrated Circuit Card    -   UL Uplink    -   UM Unacknowledged Mode    -   UML Unified Modelling Language    -   UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System    -   UP User Plane    -   UPF User Plane Function    -   URI Uniform Resource Identifier    -   URL Uniform Resource Locator    -   URLLC Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency    -   USB Universal Serial Bus    -   USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module    -   USS UE-specific search space    -   UTRA UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access    -   UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network    -   UwPTS Uplink Pilot Time Slot    -   V2I Vehicle-to-Infrastruction    -   V2P Vehicle-to-Pedestrian    -   V2V Vehicle-to-Vehicle    -   V2X Vehicle-to-everything    -   VIM Virtualized Infrastructure Manager    -   VL Virtual Link,    -   VLAN Virtual LAN, Virtual Local Area Network    -   VM Virtual Machine    -   VNF Virtualized Network Function    -   VNFFG VNF Forwarding Graph    -   VNFFGD VNF Forwarding Graph Descriptor    -   VNFM VNF Manager    -   VoIP Voice-over-IP, Voice-over-Internet Protocol    -   VPLMN Visited Public Land Mobile Network    -   VPN Virtual Private Network    -   VRB Virtual Resource Block    -   WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access    -   WLAN Wireless Local Area Network    -   WMAN Wireless Metropolitan Area Network    -   WPAN Wireless Personal Area Network    -   X2-C X2-Control plane    -   X2-U X2-User plane    -   XML eXtensible Markup Language    -   XRES EXpected user RESponse    -   XOR eXclusive OR    -   ZC Zadoff-Chu    -   ZP Zero Power

Terminology

For the purposes of the present document, the following terms anddefinitions are applicable to the examples and embodiments/aspectsdiscussed herein, but are not meant to be limiting.

The term “circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includeshardware components such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, aprocessor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared,dedicated, or group), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC),a field-programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field-programmable gate array(FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), ahigh-capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable SoC),digital signal processors (DSPs), etc., that is configured to providethe described functionality. In some embodiments/aspects, the circuitrymay execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide atleast some of the described functionality. The term “circuitry” may alsorefer to a combination of one or more hardware elements (or acombination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system) withthe program code used to carry out the functionality of that programcode. In these embodiments/aspects, the combination of hardware elementsand program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuitry.

The term “processor circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of orincludes circuitry capable of sequentially and automatically carryingout a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording,storing, and/or transferring digital data. The term “processorcircuitry” may refer to one or more application processors, one or morebaseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), asingle-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, aquad-core processor, and/or any other device capable of executing orotherwise operating computer-executable instructions, such as programcode, software modules, and/or functional processes. The terms“application circuitry” and/or “baseband circuitry” may be consideredsynonymous to, and may be referred to as “processor circuitry.”

The term “interface circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of orincludes circuitry that enables the exchange of information between twoor more components or devices. The term “interface circuitry” may referto one or more hardware interfaces, for example, buses, I/O interfaces,peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, and/or thelike.

The term “user equipment” or “UE” as used herein refers to a device withradio communication capabilities and may describe a remote user ofnetwork resources in a communications network. The term “user equipment”or “UE” may be considered synonymous to and may be referred to as,client, mobile, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobileunit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station,access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurableradio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, theterm “user equipment” or “UE” may include any type of wireless/wireddevice or any computing device, including a wireless communicationsinterface.

The term “network element” as used herein refers to physical orvirtualized equipment and/or infrastructure used to provide wired orwireless communication network services. The term “network element” maybe considered synonymous to and/or referred to as a networked computer,networking hardware, network equipment, network node, router, switch,hub, bridge, radio network controller, RAN device, RAN node, gateway,server, virtualized VNF, NFVI, and/or the like.

The term “computer system” as used herein refers to any type ofinterconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or componentsthereof. Additionally, the term “computer system” and/or “system” mayrefer to various components of a computer that are communicativelycoupled with one another. Furthermore, the term “computer system” and/or“system” may refer to multiple computer devices and/or multiplecomputing systems that are communicatively coupled with one another andconfigured to share computing and/or networking resources.

The term “appliance,” “computer appliance,” or the like, as used herein,refers to a computer device or computer system with program code (e.g.,software or firmware) that is specifically designed to provide aspecific computing resource. A “virtual appliance” is a virtual machineimage to be implemented by a hypervisor-equipped device that virtualizesor emulates a computer appliance or otherwise is dedicated to providinga specific computing resource.

The term “resource” as used herein refers to a physical or virtualdevice, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment,and/or a physical or virtual component within a particular device, suchas computer devices, mechanical devices, memory space, processor/CPUtime, processor/CPU usage, processor and accelerator loads, hardwaretime or usage, electrical power, input/output operations, ports ornetwork sockets, channel/link allocation, throughput, memory usage,storage, network, database and applications, workload units, and/or thelike. A “hardware resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/ornetwork resources provided by a physical hardware element(s). A“virtualized resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or networkresources provided by virtualization infrastructure to an application,device, system, etc. The term “network resource” or “communicationresource” may refer to resources that are accessible by computerdevices/systems via a communications network. The term “systemresources” may refer to any kind of shared entities to provide services,and may include computing and/or network resources. System resources maybe considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects orservices, accessible through a server where such system resources resideon a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

The term “channel” as used herein refers to any transmission medium,either tangible or intangible, which is used to communicate data or adata stream. The term “channel” may be synonymous with and/or equivalentto “communications channel,” “data communications channel,”“transmission channel,” “data transmission channel,” “access channel,”“data access channel,” “link,” “data link,” “carrier,” “radiofrequencycarrier,” and/or any other like term denoting a pathway or mediumthrough which data is communicated. Additionally, the term “link” asused herein refers to a connection between two devices through a RAT forthe purpose of transmitting and receiving information.

The terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like as used hereinrefers to the creation of an instance. An “instance” also refers to aconcrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringthe execution of the program code.

The terms “coupled,” “communicatively coupled,” along with derivativesthereof, are used herein. The term “coupled” may mean two or moreelements are in direct physical or electrical contact with one another,may mean that two or more elements indirectly contact each other butstill cooperate or interact with each other, and/or may mean that one ormore other elements are coupled or connected between the elements thatare said to be coupled with each other. The term “directly coupled” maymean that two or more elements are in direct contact with one another.The term “communicatively coupled” may mean that two or more elementsmay be in contact with one another by a means of communication,including through a wire or other interconnect connection, through awireless communication channel or ink, and/or the like.

The term “information element” refers to a structural element containingone or more fields. The term “field” refers to the individual contentsof an information element or a data element that contains content.

The term “SMTC” refers to an SSB-based measurement timing configurationconfigured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration.

The term “SSB” refers to an SS/PBCH block.

The term “a “Primary Cell” refers to the MCG cell, operating on theprimary frequency, in which the UE either performs the initialconnection establishment procedure or initiates the connectionre-establishment procedure.

The term “Primary SCG Cell” refers to the SCG cell in which the UEperforms random access when performing the Reconfiguration with Syncprocedure for DC operation.

The term “Secondary Cell” refers to a cell providing additional radioresources on top of a Special Cell for a UE configured with CA.

The term “Secondary Cell Group” refers to the subset of serving cellscomprising the PSCell and zero or more secondary cells for a UEconfigured with DC.

The term “Serving Cell” refers to the primary cell for a UE inRRC_CONNECTED not configured with CA/DC; there is only one serving cellcomprising of the primary cell.

The term “serving cell” or “serving cells” refers to the set of cellscomprising the Special Cell(s) and all secondary cells for a UE inRRC_CONNECTED configured with CA/.

The term “Special Cell” refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell ofthe SCG for DC operation; otherwise, the term “Special Cell” refers tothe Pcell.

As described above, aspects of the present technology may include thegathering and use of data available from various sources, e.g., toimprove or enhance functionality. The present disclosure contemplatesthat in some instances, this gathered data may include personalinformation data that uniquely identifies or can be used to contact orlocate a specific person. Such personal information data can includedemographic data, location-based data, telephone numbers, emailaddresses, Twitter ID's, home addresses, data or records relating to auser's health or level of fitness (e.g., vital signs measurements,medication information, exercise information), date of birth, or anyother identifying or personal information. The present disclosurerecognizes that the use of such personal information data, in thepresent technology, may be used to the benefit of users.

The present disclosure contemplates that the entities responsible forthe collection, analysis, disclosure, transfer, storage, or other use ofsuch personal information data will comply with well-established privacypolicies and/or privacy practices. In particular, such entities shouldimplement and consistently use privacy policies and practices that aregenerally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmentalrequirements for maintaining personal information data private andsecure. Such policies should be easily accessible by users, and shouldbe updated as the collection and/or use of data changes. Personalinformation from users should be collected for legitimate and reasonableuses of the entity and not shared or sold outside of those legitimateuses. Further, such collection/sharing should only occur after receivingthe informed consent of the users. Additionally, such entities shouldconsider taking any needed steps for safeguarding and securing access tosuch personal information data and ensuring that others with access tothe personal information data adhere to their privacy policies andprocedures. Further, such entities can subject themselves to evaluationby third parties to certify their adherence to widely accepted privacypolicies and practices. In addition, policies and practices should beadapted for the particular types of personal information data beingcollected and/or accessed and adapted to applicable laws and standards,including jurisdiction-specific considerations. For instance, in the US,collection of, or access to, certain health data may be governed byfederal and/or state laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability andAccountability Act (HIPAA); whereas health data in other countries maybe subject to other regulations and policies and should be handledaccordingly. Hence different privacy practices should be maintained fordifferent personal data types in each country.

Despite the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplatesembodiments in which users selectively block the use of, or access to,personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplatesthat hardware and/or software elements can be provided to prevent orblock access to such personal information data. For example, the presenttechnology may be configurable to allow users to selectively “opt in” or“opt out” of participation in the collection of personal informationdata, e.g., during registration for services or anytime thereafter. Inaddition to providing “opt in” and “opt out” options, the presentdisclosure contemplates providing notifications relating to the accessor use of personal information. For instance, a user may be notifiedupon downloading an app that their personal information data will beaccessed and then reminded again just before personal information datais accessed by the app.

Moreover, it is the intent of the present disclosure that personalinformation data should be managed and handled in a way to minimizerisks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. Risk can beminimized by limiting the collection of data and deleting data once itis no longer needed. In addition, and when applicable, including incertain health related applications, data de-identification can be usedto protect a user's privacy. De-identification may be facilitated, whenappropriate, by removing specific identifiers (e.g., date of birth,etc.), controlling the amount or specificity of data stored (e.g.,collecting location data a city level rather than at an address level),controlling how data is stored (e.g., aggregating data across users),and/or other methods.

Therefore, although the present disclosure may broadly cover use ofpersonal information data to implement one or more various disclosedembodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that the variousembodiments can also be implemented without the need for accessing suchpersonal information data. That is, the various embodiments of thepresent technology are not rendered inoperable due to the lack of all ora portion of such personal information data.

1. An apparatus for a wireless communication system, the apparatuscomprising: processor circuitry configured to: configure a bandwidthpart (BWP) for downlink (DL) positioning reference signals (PRS) and aBWP for DL data transmission, wherein the BWP for DL PRS provides DL PRSto a user equipment (UE) for a UE-based positioning operation; andselect an action to be performed by the UE in response to receiving theBWP for DL PRS and the BWP for DL data transmission; and radio front endcircuitry, coupled to the processor circuitry, configured to: transmit,to the UE, the BWP for DL PRS, the BWP for DL data transmission, and theselected action.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the wirelesscommunication system is a 5G new radio (5G-NR) system, a 5G system, or a6G system.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor circuitryis further configured to: configure the BWP for DL PRS to be differentfrom the BWP for DL data transmission.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to: select asubcarrier spacing (SCS), a physical resource block (PRB) levelgranularity, or a value of numerology for the BWP for DL PRS that isdifferent from that of the BWP for DL data transmission.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the BWP for DL PRS fully or partiallyoverlaps with the BWP for DL data transmission.
 6. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to:select a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) or a first value of numerologyto configure the BWP for DL PRS, and a second subcarrier spacing (SCS)or a second value of numerology to configure the BWP for DL datatransmission, wherein the BWP for DL PRS does not overlap with the BWPfor DL data transmission.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theprocessor circuitry is further configured to: determine synchronizationaccuracy information that comprises a measure of synchronization errorassociated with a timing error, a level of timing misalignment, asynchronization error, or a grade of timing uncertainty between theapparatus and another apparatus via which the BWP for DL PRS istransmitted to the UE, and wherein the radio front end circuitry isfurther configured to: transmit, to the UE, the determinedsynchronization accuracy information.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the selected action instructs the UE to process the DL PRSaccording to the BWP for DL PRS or the BWP for DL data transmission,wherein the DL PRS used to perform the UE-based positioning operation iswithin one of the BWP for DL PRS or the BWP for DL data transmission. 9.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor circuitry is furtherconfigured to: detect the BWP for DL PRS being used for DL datatransmission; and discard a positioning measurement received from the UEduring which the BWP for DL PRS is being used for the DL datatransmission; and wherein the radio front end circuitry is furtherconfigured to: in response to the detection, communicate to the UE theuse of the BWP for DL PRS for the DL data transmission.
 10. A methodcomprising: configuring, by an access point (AP) for a wirelesscommunication system, a bandwidth part (BWP) for downlink (DL)positioning reference signals (PRS) and a BWP for DL data transmission,wherein the BWP for DL PRS provides DL PRS to a user equipment (UE) fora UE-based positioning operation; selecting, by the AP, an action to beperformed by the UE in response to receiving the BWP for DL PRS and theBWP for DL data transmission; and transmitting, from the AP to the UE,the BWP for DL PRS, the BWP for DL data transmission, and the selectedaction.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the wireless communicationsystem is a 5G new radio (5G-NR) system, a 5G system, or a 6G system.12. The method of claim 10, further comprising configuring, by the AP,the BWP for DL PRS to be different from the BWP for DL datatransmission.
 13. The method of claim 10, further comprising selecting,by the AP, a subcarrier spacing (SCS), a physical resource block (PRB)level granularity, or a value of numerology to configure the BWP for DLPRS that is from that of different from the BWP for DL datatransmission.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein the BWP for DL PRSeither fully or partially overlaps with the BWP for DL datatransmission.
 15. The method of claim 10, further comprising selecting,by the AP, a first subcarrier spacing (SCS), a first value of numerologyto configure the BWP for DL PRS, and a second subcarrier spacing (SCS)or a second value of numerology to configure the BWP for DL datatransmission, wherein the BWP for the DL PRS does not overlap with theBWP for DL data transmission.
 16. The method of claim 10, furthercomprising: determining, by the AP, synchronization accuracy informationthat comprises a measure of synchronization error associated with atiming error, a level of timing misalignment, a synchronization error,or a grade of timing uncertainty between the apparatus and anotherapparatus via which the BWP for DL PRS is transmitted to the UE; andtransmitting, from the AP to the UE, the determined synchronizationaccuracy information.
 17. The method of claim 10, wherein the selectedaction instructs the UE to process the DL PRS according to the BWP forDL PRS or the BWP for DL data transmission, wherein the DL PRS used toperform the UE-based positioning operation is within one of the BWP forDL PRS or the BWP for DL data transmission.
 18. The method of claim 10,further comprising: detecting, by the AP, the BWP for DL PRS being usedfor DL data transmission; in response to the detection, communicating,from the AP to the UE, the detected use of the BWP for DL PRS for the DLtransmission; and discarding, by the AP, a positioning measurementreceived from the UE during which the BWP for DL PRS is being used forthe DL data transmission.
 19. A user equipment (UE) comprising: radiofront end circuitry configured to: receive a bandwidth part (BWP) fordownlink (DL) positioning reference signals (PRS) and a BWP for DL datatransmission, and an action to be performed by the UE in response toreceiving the BWP for DL PRS and the BWP for DL data transmission,processor circuitry, coupled to the radio front end circuitry,configured to: based on the action, determine an adjustment of areceiver bandwidth of the radio front end circuitry to process the DLPRS, wherein the action depends on whether the BWP for DL PRS fully orpartially overlaps with the BWP for DL data transmission.
 20. The UE ofclaim 19, wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to:perform positioning measurement according to the DL PRS; and use anuplink (UL) sounding reference signal (SRS) as a reference signal for ULPRS, wherein the UL SRS supports reduced occupied subcarrier density,and extended number of supported symbols, or utilization of time orfrequency domain code division multiplexing, and wherein either comb-6or comb-12 is used to support the reduced occupied subcarrier density.